*We’re not afraid of guns, violence, says Tonye Cole
*Police: No explosion took place at Port Harcourt rally
*Atiku condemns attack
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
An improvised substance suspected to be dynamite yesterday exploded at the venue of a rally by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
This was just as the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, Tonye Cole, stated that no amount of gun threats or violence would stop the party’s campaign rally in the state.
The APC governorship candidate said this while addressing his supporters at the Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community, Port Harcourt.
But Rivers state police command has said there was no explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt.
However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the reported explosion that occurred at the rally.
THISDAY gathered that earlier in the day, the venue for the APC rally, at the Rumuwoji community field was on lock and key, taking the party hours to resolve the issues leading to the sealing of the venue before accessing the property.
It was gathered that while the supporters and party candidates were assembling at the field, an improvised explosive device was released, causing the serious tension and fear. The incident it was further learnt, left a female supporter of APC with a serious injury, while other persons sustained minor injuries.
An eyewitness who gave his name as Isaac, explained “We were at the Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community waiting for the governorship candidate of the APC to address the people, when unknown person threw a ‘bottle bomb’ in the middle of the field.
“The bottle bomb exploded, which made many people at the venue ran for their safety believing it was a dynamite. One of the APC supporters ran with me to my shop and immediately removed his T-shirt in fear of being lynched by the suspected thugs. A woman sustained wound because pieces of the bottle from device injured her on the leg.”
However, THISDAY observed that the incident did not stop the rally, as the governorship candidate and other candidates of the party continued their campaign.
Addressing the APC supporter at the venue, Cole said: “This election is not about party again, it is about your popularity, who can make difference and save the people from sufferings and hardship. Not to shoot gun to scare the people away.
“We are not afraid of election, we are not afraid of violence, we are not afraid of guns. It is not the first time they are shooting at me: they shot at old Bakana and ran away, they shot today, ran away and we started and finished our programme.
“We were there in Etche, they said it will not happen, Etche was a crowd. We were in Ikwerre yesterday, the crowd was bigger, it shocked them. They said they will stop Port Harcourt rally. They will not stop us, tomorrow we will continue, our people will come out. APC is on ground”, Cole added.
Also, speaking with journalists at the venue, Cole said “The serving council chairman has been trying everything to prevent the rally from holding since 4am and we had series of meetings with the police over reports of threats to attack us today.
“We refused to be intimidated and insisted we will continue the rally. While introductions were going on, they threw a stick of dynamite followed by a round of gunshots.
“We were very proactive and prevented our people from panicking. This prevented a stampede and the rally wasn’t interrupted at all but rather galvanised our support base.”
Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Darlington Nwauju who also reacted on the incident, said: “It is another black day in the annals of democracy where all sorts of underhand strategies are being deployed to frustrate opposition political parties in Rivers State.
“The National Security Adviser, General Monguno and IGP Usman Alkali must zero in on Rivers State and stamp out politically sponsored violence. No single opposition politician is safe. We have also intercepted credible intelligence of plans to attack key opposition politicians in Rivers state,” Nwauju added.
Meanwhile, the Rivers state police command has dismissed that there was an explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt.
In a statement yesterday, by the State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said it was an argument between youths of the community and the APC that resulted to what she called mild incident.
According Iringe-Koko “Today, 19th of January 2023, the All-Progressive Congress (APC) had an open rally at Rumuwoji community town hall/playing ground in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“Before the commencement of the rally, the internal crisis within the community over which faction should control the community playing ground/town hall revealed its ugly head. It was alleged that the CDC Chairman collected the sum of N200,000 from APC as payment for renting the playground/town hall. Incidentally, he shared the money to only the chiefs and members of his faction.
“The other faction that didn’t benefit from the sharing insisted that the hall would not be used, except and until they were giving their share of the money. Consequently, a fracas ensued. Two person were reportedly injured.
“The fracas was not between members of APC and any other political party but between the internal factions within the said community. The DC Operations, Area Commander Port Harcourt, the O/C SIB and DPO Mile one Diobu, were on ground to intervene and restore peace and security at the venue. Thus, the fracas did not affect the APC rally, which ended peacefully.
“There was no explosion before or during the rally. However, the Commissioner of Police has directed the DC State CID and O/C Bomb Disposal Unit to investigate and confirm the veracity of the rumour currently making the rounds on social media.
“It should be noted that Rumuwoji community is factionalised into two; not divided on political party lines, rather factionalised as a result of Chieftaincy tussle. The fracas was defined in these lines”.
The police spokesperson however, urged the public to go about their lawful businesses and maintain peace, just as the Command reiterates that it is committed to protecting life and property of all residents in Rivers State.
In his response, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the explosion at the rally.
The former vice president in a series of tweets from his verified twitter handle said there should be no place for violence and anti-democratic manifestations in this election.
The presidential candidate said the political parties had committed to that in the peace pact they all signed up to.
Atiku stressed that elections are not a do-or-die affair, but an opportunity to reinforce the belief in democracy through leadership choices via adult suffrage.
He tweeted: “Our worst fears have now manifested with the explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt. It stands condemned
“We had complained about the violence that had been visited on our party in some states because we did not want it to become a pattern if those engaged in anti-democratic activities were not brought to book.
“Our worst fears have now manifested with the explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt. It stands condemned. Elections and the choices we make should be about the ballot and not the Bullet.
“On behalf of my team, I stand in solidarity with the APC and the families of the injured. I wish the injured a quick recovery.”
The former vice president called on security agencies to ensure that those behind this dastardly act, including their promoters, are brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to copycats who might be emboldened to thread this same anti-democratic path.
