The All Progressive Congress (APC) House of Assembly’s candidate for Ikwerre Constituency in Rivers State, Azubuike Wanjoku, has denied the allegation levelled against him by Governor Nyesom Wike, that he, the Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, and other leaders of the party caused the fracas that led to shootings at Ikwerre Local Government Area’s secretariat on Sunday evening.
Isiokpo is the headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area, the constituency of the Minister for Transportation, Mr. Chibiuke Rotimi Ameachi.
At a media briefing on Sunday evening, Governor Nyesom Wike accused Wanjoku of instigating the trouble at Ikwerre council’s secretariat after he allegedly discovered that the election did not fovour him.
The governor said even when supporters of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state overpowered Wanjoku and his APC supporters, the lawmaker allegedly hit the Retuning Officer with his bulletproof car and pushed him into the bush.
But Wanjoku, who is reportedly recuperating at an undisclosed hospital, yesterday said Wike ordered his thugs in Ikwerre Local Government Area, led by a top local government official, to shoot him.
He said the governor’s annoyance was that he (Wanjoku) and other APC leaders in the area resisted what he called the hijack of electoral materials and the abduction of the Returning of Officer by suspected PDP thugs.
Wanjoku said he was marked for assassination, adding that his vehicle was damaged after he was shot and attacked by suspected PDP thugs who were unhappy that he resisted them from writing a fake result of the rerun election at the secretariat.
He added: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials can testify to what happened. Those attacked included the Collation Officer, Allwell Egeonu. Many thugs were recruited to kill and I was one of those targeted.
“The story of what happened at the Ikwerre council’s secretariat has set a new record for electoral brigandage in Rivers State, like a tale told in a war movie. They rained bullets on me and some chieftains of the APC. This can only reinforce my belief that God does not fail to protect His people.
“The Chief of Staff to the Governor of Rivers State and the caretaker chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, men of the Nigerian Police Force, together with some hired armed thugs rained more than 500 rounds of live ammunition on my bullet-proof vehicle.
“Under our watchful eyes, members of the PDP were making entries into the collation sheets while the EO and some INEC ad hoc workers by stood and watched. We came to resist their rigging machinery: myself and the Director-General of NIMASA (Dr Dakuku Peterside), were attacked by the trigger-happy policemen and hired hoodlums.”
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