APC Says Senator Abe Was Target of Police Shooting in Rivers

he All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan
to urgently put an end to what it termed the worsening reign of impunity
in Rivers State.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the call has become even
more imperative, following the irresponsible act of brigandage by the
police, which stopped a rally billed for the Obio Akpor Local Government
Area of the state today by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM).
”The police went to the venue of the rally, pulled down the erected
canopies and fired tear gas at everyone around there and even into nearby
homes, with the result that five children are now feared to have died from
suffocation due to this shameful Gestapo-style action of the police, who
are being funded by taxpayers to protect the lives and property of the
same citizens they are now brutalizing and killing.
”Not only that, they injured the Chief of Staff to Gov. Chibuike Amaechi
and fired a supposed rubber bullet, at point blank range, at Senator
Magnus Abe, who is now gravely injured. The Senator is believed to have
been deliberately targeted for attack by the police,” the APC alleged in
the statement.
However, the Rivers Police Command on Sunday denied allegations that its
personnel shot and wounded a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Magnus
Abe.
Its spokesman, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP),
said the police did not dispense any bullet while dispersing a rally by
Save Rivers Movement on Sunday.
He said the group was at the state College of Arts and Science for the
rally when they were dispersed because they did not obtain a police
permit.
“I can confirm to you that Sen. Magnus Abe was not shot. The police did
not expend any single bullet while dispersing the crowd.
“It is not true. The police did not shoot the senator, we only used
minimum force to disperse the crowd at the venue of the rally,’’ he said.
The Rivers Government earlier alleged that Abe was shot by the police at
the venue of the rally.