Gunmen attacked the Rivers State secretariat of the Action Peoples Party in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, shooting a security guard. This is the second attack on the APP secretariat within weeks.
APP Chairman, Sunny Wokekoro, confired the incident to newsmen, describing it as “ugly” and stating that such politically-motivated incidents in the state were “one too many.”
Wokekoro said, “It’s with pain in our hearts that we invited you here this afternoon to brief you on the development that has affected our party once again, Action Peoples Party, Rivers State.
“You all recall that about a month ago, soon after our state party office was unveiled by our national chairman and his team, the same day, the same night, the party secretariat was attacked with dynamite.
“We can authoritatively speak of the promptness of the Commissioner of Police in visiting the scene of the incident but regrettably, we cannot speak of the same concerning the outcome of the investigation regarding that incident, as we still await the report of that investigation.
“And last night, almost about the same time as that of the dynamite attack, we also got a call between the hours of 11:30 pm to 12 am, that there was a gunshot that affected one of our gatemen. As we speak now, he’s receiving treatment in the hospital.
“The DPO, Abacha police station has been here with his team. We made efforts all through last night to get across to the police officers who were stationed at the party’s secretariat for the safeguard of this secretariat and every party member.
“This is becoming an incident that has become too often in the Rivers State politics. We are not experts, as I said before, to identify the immediate and remote cause of this incident.
“It’s not our desire that anyone should lose their lives becoming a member of our party. It’s not our desire that any citizen of Rivers State will lose his or her life because of politics.
“We only advise that all of us should play politics with the fear of God in our hearts. There’s nothing that’s worth anyone’s life.
“It’s a very ugly incident and we do not think it is wise or advisable for anybody to get to this level in politics.”
Despite the incident, Wokekoro maintained that the party would not be deterred, saying, “Be that as it may, what is happening and what has happened will not deter members of the APP.
“As a matter of fact, the more they do this, the more we are resolved that we are doing the right thing, that we are prepared to liberate Rivers State from the draconian claws of any individual or group of individuals. We are determined that we are not scared in any form.”
