Some of the suspected political thugs displayed charms to threaten opposition party members at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Some supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday tried to stop opposition candidates in the March 18 governorship election in Rivers State from inspecting materials used in the conduct of the poll.
Some of the suspected political thugs displayed charms to threaten opposition party members at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The PDP supporters stormed the INEC office accompanied by two herbalists who met curious stares at the INEC headquarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
In pictures and videos seen by SaharaReporters on Wednesday, herbalists clad in white attire placed a ceramic pot at the INEC office gate while performing incantations with liquid substances.
SaharaReporters had reported that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Tonye Cole lamented that INEC refused to grant his party and team of lawyers access to inspect the materials used in the conduct of the election.
On Monday, he was beaten by thugs allegedly loyal to Governor Nyesom Wike.
A report by The PUNCH also noted that protesters placed several fetish materials in the middle of the road with a man dressed like a ‘juju priest’, presiding over affairs, pouring libations, and making incantations in a local dialect.
The ‘juju priest’ wore a red attire and had his head and waist wrapped with palm fronds.
According to the report, the barricades that were erected by security operatives on the Waterlines axis and the GRA junction leading to the INEC office remained intact, as motorists and commuters were barred from accessing the hitherto busy road.
The protest, which had since been led by the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, and the Ikwerre Local Government Area Chairman, was joined by more lawmakers on Tuesday, including the 32-member House leader, Martins Amaewhule.
“The police must arrest him (Cole) today because we don’t know what to tell the family of the dead PDP supporter. The wife and children are crying at the hospital. Why must we continue to fold our hands and allow criminals to steal our money because they are using thugs?
“The Nigeria Police must rise to the occasion. We are ready to die for our rights. We are ready to die to defend our mandate. Enough is enough,” Ehie stated.
The protesters later presented an acknowledged copy of the PDP’s petition dated March 24, 2023, in which the ruling party demanded that INEC should release Certified True Copies of electoral materials.
Reacting to Tuesday’s protest, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Chief Emeka Beke, said the party would do everything within the law to get what it needs to file its case at the election petition tribunal.
He said, “They blocked the INEC office with juju, are you not aware? Didn’t you see what they tied there? That tells you what they are up to. Do they have the right to block INEC’s office? You can see what they are doing.
“For us, the world has known our demands, and we are going to get what we are asking for within the law. We never said they (INEC) should not give any other person what they are asking for.
“No, we asked that they give CTC documents, and we have done that petition to the Inspector General of Police because we feel we won’t get justice from the police in Rivers State.”
In another video seen by SaharaReporters, some people said to be PDP supporters were seen collecting assault weapons from a Toyota Sienna vehicle parked in front of the INEC office and preventing opposition party members from accessing and inspecting election materials at the INEC office.
SaharaReporters had also reported that Governor Wike slammed the APC governorship candidate, Cole, for demanding to inspect election materials at the INEC office in Port Harcourt, insisting that if the election was conducted 25,000 times, he would still lose.