Rivers State House of Assembly Crisis Escalates, Spills To Streets

The fracas that erupted over who controls the Rivers State House of Assembly, yesterday, spilled to the streets, leaving several people injured. At the centre are 27 legislators loyal to Governor Rotimi Amaechi and five others belonging to the opposition.

Yesterday’s street fight attracted thugs who descended on pro-Amaechi supporters, forcing them to retreat into Government House in Port Harcourt.

The seat of government in the state did not prove to be a safe haven as policemen in hot pursuit of the pro-Amaechi suppporters shot several canisters of tear gas into the fence of the seat of power, peppering government officials holed inside the complex. The chaos provoked by the mayhem forced banks, the state secretariat and the judiciary to hurriedly close shops.

Echoes of the crisis in Rivers State reverberated in the National Assembly with the House of Representatives taking over the legislative responsibilities of the Rivers Assembly while the Police high command said it would investigate activities of its men in the state. The House also adopted a resolution for the removal of the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu Joseph.

The Senate, in an equally emotive session, however, stopped short of the resolutions adopted by the House but called on Police authorities to reconcile Mr. Mbu with the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi.  Nonetheless, the two factions in the Rivers State House of Assembly remained dogged in their positions yesterday as they clashed for a second straight day.

The clash between supporters of opposing factions in the House near the gate of the Government House led to intervention of the Police who forcibly separated them using tear gas. Some canisters of tear gas breached the perimeters of the Government House in the melee which led to severe injuries on at least five persons including one person that was reportedly shot.

Evans Bipi who was Tuesday elected by a group of five legislators as new speaker told Vanguard yesterday that he had taken office and was now the presiding officer of the House even as he poured invectives against Governor Amaechi.

He was immediately countered by the opposing group of 27 legislators who issued a resolution affirming their continued recognition of Hon. Otelemaba Amachree as speaker. The legislators in a statement signed by 26 of the 27 members in the group also pledged one hundred per cent support for Governor Amaechi.

Stakeholders across the country were, however, full of condemnations for developments in the state yesterday.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN however, treaded new grounds in its response as it called on the National Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan who the party alleged was fully responsible for the escalating crisis. Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Communications and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP acting national publicity secretary, immediately countered the party.