The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, this morning commended the Senate for the prompt action it has taken to get to the root of the disruption, by armed policemen, of Sunday’s rally organised by the Save Rivers Movement in Port Harcourt and the alleged shooting of Senator Magnus Abe, who is presently receiving treatment abroad.

“The Senate did not only strongly condemn the shameful incident during its Monday sitting but also advised the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the incident. Showing the right example, which we expect the police top hierarchy in Abuja to follow, the Senate Committee on Police, led by its Chairman, Senator Igwe Paulinus Wagwu, arrived Port Harcourt on Tuesday to commence fact-finding on the circumstances surrounding the incident, which happened at the premises of the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Rumuola in Port Harcourt,” Rivers State APC Interim Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ikanya, said in a statement issued in the state capital, Port Harcourt.

“This prompt action by the Senate has proved to be a source of consolation to us in the face of the unrelenting onslaught of the Federal Might bent on turning Rivers State into a theatre of war for mundane political reasons. It gives us hope that there is still light at the end of the tunnel,” the statement said, adding:

“We wish to use this opportunity to once more cry out over the excesses of the State Commissioner of Police, CP Mbu Joseph Mbu, and to call for his immediate redeployment out of Rivers State as he has become a nuisance and part of the problem.

“We meanwhile congratulate the good people of Ogoniland on their 2014 Ogoni Day Celebration and commend the Ogoni Leaders of Thought for banning controversial Supervising Minster of Education, Barrister Ezebuwon Nyesom Wike, and several others in his camp from Ogoniland for promoting acts of impunity, including the unwarranted police attack on their beloved son, Senator Magnus Abe.

“By this singular action, Ogoni people have demonstrated that they do not buy the childish lie of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has accused Governor Rotimi Amaechi of surreptitiously rooting for Ogoni Oil Wells. Of course, Ogoni people know the truth, which is that Governor Amaechi has been waging a relentless war for the return of Rivers Oil Wells ceded to neighbouring states and for Federal Government’s attention to the state’s oil-bearing communities. We wish to reassure our Ogoni brothers and sisters that Governor Amaechi has their best interests at heart and will always be in the forefront of efforts to ensure that they get their political and economic rights.”

APC in the statement alleged that “the PDP in Rivers State seeing their rejection by the Ogonis has mobilised some youths from Cameroun and neighbouring states to assemble in Gokana LGA of Rivers State this morning where they will be addressed and incited against the Rivers State Government saying that the police was not responsible for the shooting, rather it was caused by the failure of the RSG to obtain a police permit for their rally. They also plan to have a section of the media to cover their sinister protest in order to confuse the whole world which has condemned. We urge the police to stop this open madness by these misguided PDP Leaders before they plunge our state into more crises.”

•Photo shows Senator Magnus Abe in his London hospital bed during a sympathy visit by APC National Leader Bola Tinubu.

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