SENATOR Magnus Abe was allegedly shot with a rubber bullet, Sunday, by the
\nPolice at the Port Harcourt venue of a rally of Save Rivers Movement, a
\npro-governor Chibuike Amaechi group. The Police however denied the
\nallegation.
\nThe Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Mr Tony Okocha who
\nsaid he was with the Senator when the Police shot him at very close range
\nsaid they also fired teargas at them, adding that one of the canisters of
\nthe teargas hit him (Chief of Staff) on his leg.
\nHis words,:\u201cThis morning was a huge surprise to me. It\u2019s the turn of
\nObio\/Akpor local government to host the Save Rivers Movement, we had gone
\nto Eleme and also to Asari-Toru, today is the turn of Obio\/Akpor local
\ngovernment and as law abiding citizens of Nigeria we wrote to the police,
\ninforming them of our programme an there was no negative response. We
\nchose College of Arts and Sciences because it\u2019s more expansive, it could
\naccommodate at least about 10,000 persons that will come out of Obio\/Akpor
\nlocal government area today for Save Rivers Movement.
\nAt about few minutes past 12, I received a call from someone; highly
\nplaced, informing me that the Commissioner of Police had been reached by
\nthe Supervision Minister for Education and \u2026 to dislodge our people today
\nand I couldn\u2019t place it. About 4:30am, our men on ground, who were left
\nthere to secure the gadgets and facilities we have on ground there, called
\nme to say that the police had taken the place over. For God\u2019s sakes we are
\ndefenceless, free citizens of Nigeria, we don\u2019t carry arms. Save Rivers
\nMovement is an organisation that insists that Rivers State must be saved,
\nout to salvage the state from political buccaneers who want to put Rivers
\nstate into their pockets, that\u2019s what we are doing; we are in the business
\nof sensitizing our people from LGA to LGA. You are aware of a group called
\nGDI, they go through all the LGAs with convoys of police, giving them all
\nkinds of protection, including the commissioner of police, he\u2019s always in
\nthe convoys, providing security for them and ensuring that what they do in
\nthe LGAs are trouble-free.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Rivers Police Command on Sunday denied allegations that its
\npersonnel shot and wounded a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Magnus
\nAbe.
\nIts spokesman, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP),
\ntold the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that the police did
\nnot dispense any bullet while dispersing a rally by Save Rivers Movement
\non Sunday.
\nHe said the group was at the state College of Arts and Science for the
\nrally when they were dispersed because they did not obtain a police
\npermit.
\n\u201cI can confirm to you that Sen. Magnus Abe was not shot. The police did
\nnot expend any single bullet while dispersing the crowd.
\n\u201cIt is not true. The police did not shoot the senator, we only used
\nminimum force to disperse the crowd at the venue of the rally,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Rivers Government has
\nalleged that Abe was shot by the police at the venue of the rally.
\nMrs Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner for information and Communications,
\nmade the accusation in a statement on Sunday in Port Harcourt.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s attack on members of the Save Rivers Movement, a non governmental
\nassociation, at the College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt,
\nRivers State and especially the unprovoked shooting of Senator Magnus Ngei
\nAbe, the senator representing Rivers South East senatorial district, is
\ncause for worry and an indication of the length that the PDP is willing to
\ngo to silence opposing views.
\n\u201cRivers State Government therefore reiterates its call for the
\nre-deployment of CP Mbu from Rivers State before he turns the state into a
\ngraveyard because of his intolerance and unprofessional behaviour,\u2019\u2019 she
\nsaid.
\nThe commissioner assured that the state government would continue to
\nprotect the interest of the people at all times.
\n\u201cWe appeal to our people to remain law abiding and not to take the laws
\ninto their own hands as we promise to continue to use all legitimate and
\nlegal means to guarantee the safety of our people and their rights to
\nexist in Nigeria,\u2019\u2019 she said.
\nThe Press Secretary to Sen. Abe, Mr Honour Sirawoo, said a rubber bullet
\nhit Abe on the chest and was taken to hospital for treatment.
\nHe said Abe had gone to supervise the preparations for the rally when the
\nincident occurred at about 9.00 am on Sunday.
\nDr Mckay Anyanwu, Medical Director of Krisany Hospital, where Abe was
\nrushed to for treatment, told newsmen that the senator was brought to the
\nhospital in a state of shock caused by low blood pressure.
\n\u201cHe was unable to talk or eat, and he was feeling restless as a result of
\ntraumatic shock.
\n\u201cThe implication is that there is haemorrhage; this is a blood trauma, it
\nis not a sharp one,\u2019\u2019 he said. (NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SENATOR Magnus Abe was allegedly shot with a rubber bullet, Sunday, by the Police at the Port Harcourt venue of a rally of Save Rivers Movement, a pro-governor Chibuike Amaechi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n