THERE was confusion in Port Harcourt on Thursday as operatives of the Rivers State Police Command shot teargas canisters at pro-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers and some members of the All Progressives Congress. Read more after the cut...
Twenty-five members of the state House of Assembly loyal to the state governor were stopped by the policemen, who mounted a roadblock with two armoured personnel carriers and 14 patrol vans on both ends of Moscow Road ostensibly to prevent the lawmakers from gaining entry into the House of Assembly complex.
The pro-Amaechi lawmakers, led by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, told the policemen that they (Assembly members) were acting on a court ruling in Abuja that the National Assembly should no longer take over the functions of the state lawmakers.
However, when all entreaties from the 25 state lawmakers did not sway the policemen that had already cordoned off the road, they (lawmakers) decided to hold a makeshift session on Moscow Road to the surprise of passersby.
The police led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Port Harcourt Area Command, Mr. Aliyu Garba, had insisted that the leadership of the House must write to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, before the Assembly complex could be reopened.
While both ends of Moscow Road where the State Police Command and the State Assembly complex were located remained blocked, the police suddenly began to fire teargas canisters to disperse the lawmakers, their supporters and some APC leaders.
Some of those who were affected by the teargas were the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, interim Chairman of APC in the state, Chief Davies Ikanya and some local government chairmen.
Also affected were some workers at the State Secretariat, who immediately left their offices as a result of the effect of the teargas.
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