The
political crisis in Rivers State degenerated on Tuesday
as an attempt to impeach the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Otelemaba
Amachree, sparked a free-for-all.
Five members of
the House opposed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi had engaged about 13 of their
colleagues in a fight shortly after the pro-governor lawmakers resisted the
move to remove Amachree.
The Leader of
the House, Mr. Chidi Lloyd; Michael Chinda and Martins Amahule, were
however, not lucky as they sustained serious injures during the fracas.
Amachree is
known to be one of the governor’s strong supporters in the crisis
ravaging the state since the past four months.
The five
anti-Amaechi members, who were present at the House as early as 8am on
Tuesday, had after procuring a fake mace, decided
to take charge of the sitting after waiting to no avail for the Speaker and his
Deputy, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, to arrive.
It was gathered
that one of the anti-Amaechi lawmakers, Mr. Kelechi Wogu, moved a motion
for Amaechree’s removal as the Speaker, a development, which infuriated Lloyd.
Lloyd was said
to have dashed out of the Assembly with about four pro-Amaechi’s lawmakers to
inform the governor about the development.
Before Lloyd and
the four lawmakers returned to the House, the five anti-Amaechi
members of the Assembly had already impeached Amachree and elected Evans
Bipi as his successor in a sitting that was described as a
kangaroo plenary. Amaechree was accused of ineptitude.
It was, however,
at the point where Bipi was about giving his acceptance speech that
Amaechi, Lloyd, Amachree, other lawmakers and security operatives
arrived at the Assembly.
Amaechi Watches
Show Of Shame:
The House was
immediately turned into a boxing arena as a majority of the lawmakers fought
one another with dangerous objects.
Lloyd and
Amahule, who sustained serious injuries were rushed to the hospital
for treatment. Lloyd accused Bipi and Chinda of
using the tripod of a camera to hit him several times.
Scores of
policemen, who were present when the incident occurred, watched helplessly as
the legislators threw punches at one another.
Bipi was said to
have punched the lawmaker from Abua/Odual Constituency, Mr. Augustine Ngo, who
fell on the ground and was able to get back to his feet with the help of his
aides.
Some computer
sets in the Assembly were also destroyed during
the fight.
Police Ignore
Gov’s Arrest Order
Amaechi, who was
apparently shocked by the development, ordered the arrest of the five lawmakers
allegedly fomenting trouble in the Assembly but he was ignored by
policemen who appeared to be divided on the crisis.
Calm however
returned to the Assembly 30 minutes after the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers left
the chamber of the Assembly even as their leader made
spirited efforts to be allowed to be part of the sitting.
The Assembly
later sat with Amaechree taking over as the authentic Speaker , even as
the Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, presented a document for the amendment of
the 2013 Budget to the House.
Thugs Attack Deputy
Gov, Journalists
Ikuru and some
members of the Government House Press Crew were said to have been attacked by
suspected thugs after they left the Assembly complex.
Narrating how he
was battered by anti-Amaechi lawmakers, Lloyd, who spoke to one of our
correspondents from his hospital bed, said, “We went in as members who
had not seen ourselves for sometime because of the crisis in the state.
“I was on my
seat and without provocation, Bipi came to me in the full glare of
everybody and started punching me.
“As his leader,
I did not react because I felt that it was something we could settle; whatever
it was, maybe I didn’t greet him also. So when that continued, the speaker
intervened.
“Then he (Bipi)
reached out for the tripod that stands the camera, used it freely on me,
himself and Chinda. They flogged me to their satisfaction, I didn’t just
utter a word until I was asked to run
because they had brought in people with guns. When I looked
at the gallery, they were shouting who is the Lloyd, who is the
Lloyd.
“So at that
point, I’m sure somebody may have reached out to the governor of the state, who
came in with his own security because these other policemen were there standing
helplessly and watching what was going on. So he came and rescued members
out of the place. ”
Llyold said with
the non-challant attitude of the Police, he had become “so helpless.”
He lamented, “I
don’t know who to run to. I can’t go to the commissioner of police because he
is already in the arena; he’s already on the other side. I’m appealing to
well-meaning Nigerians to pray for me and my family.
“Nigerians
should pray for me and come to our aid. I want to use this opportunity
while in the hospital here, I have received phone calls of threat to life for
my family and I. The state (Rivers) is under siege. You can’t even vouch for
the safety of the governor.”
He said before
the free-for-all broke out, Amachree had directed that the Assembly be
reconvened to consider an amendment to the 2013 appropriation law which
Amaechi had communicated to him (Speaker).
The Assembly
leader explained that because the speaker sensed danger, he requested
the Clerk of the House to write the Commissioner of Police and the
commander of 2 Amphibious Brigade who also doubles as the head of the internal
JTF to provide security for Tuesday’s plenary.
He alleged that the
the Anti-Amaechi lawmakers procured a fake mace which they used to
convene.
I’m Still In
Charge –Speaker:
After the brawl,
Amaechree and Bipi disagreed on who was the authentic speaker of the
Assembly.
Amaechree, who
spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt shortly after presiding over the plenary,
said it would be impossible for five out of the 32 lawmakers to impeach him
or Amaechi.
He alleged
that that Bipi, who attacked him and Lloyd,
brought in hoodlums into the Assembly to also unleash mayhem
on his colleagues.
Amaechree
said the Assembly would send a formal complaint to the National Assembly on the
development, adding that though the lawmakers had
adjourned indefinitely.
He said,
“As far as this Assembly is concerned, the leadership has not
changed. I am the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly and all the other
officers and the Clerk are here with me. The leadership of the House is intact
and what Bipi told you is pure fallacy.
“The
Assembly will continue to sit, but for now, we have adjourned sine die
(indefinitely), but we can reconvene anytime. For the Assembly to impeach
the speaker, two-thirds of members must agree. Now, count how many members that
are with me here. We are 23 members here, you can count us. No mace was brought
into the Assembly.”
He,
however, explained that members would meet to determine the disciplinary
action that would be taken against the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers.
I Am The New
Speaker – Bipi
But Bipi, said
he was currently in charge of the affairs of the Assembly. The
lawmaker representing Ogu Bolo Constituency, pointed out that
though his aim was not to impeach the governor, he could do so
if Amaechi failed to comport himself.
The anti-Amaechi
lawmaker expressed anger that the governor could leave Government House to
supervise the impeachment of a speaker.
“I have no
intention to remove the governor of Rivers State. But if the need to remove him
arose , I would do that. Now, I am the Speaker of the Assembly because I
was duly elected.”
Rivers CP Confirms
Knowledge Of Crisis
Rivers State
Police Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Mbu, said he received a
call from Amaechi, informing him that he was going to the
Assembly because some lawmakers complained that they were not safe.
He also
confirmed Lloyds’ claim that he was requested via
a letter from the Clerk of the Assembly to provide police
security because of the resumption of sitting of the Assembly.
Mbu noted that
he granted the request by sending half a unit to the Assembly for
security.
He said, “At
about 21.00hrs of same yesterday (Tuesday), the Brigade Commander wrote to me
requesting me to please provide police personnel to the House of Assembly. He
attached a letter written to him by the same Assembly requesting the presence
of soldiers in today’s (Tuesday) sitting.
“It was there
and then I called the Commander of Mopol 19, CSP Braide, to send half a unit to
the House of Assembly. On my way to the office, I saw the mobile police
personnel and detachment of C4I, Civil Defence with sniffer dogs checking
persons going in and out of the Assembly gate.
“I then sent my
deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations and the assistant
commissioner of police operations to go there. The next thing I got was a call
from the governor that he was going to the House of Assembly; that his members
were not safe.
“I saw his
convoy through my office window driving into the Assembly. I was told he was in
the chambers where there was fighting with all his aides ”
Reps Wade In
The House of
Representatives had beefed up its ad hoc committee on the crisis in
Rivers State, by including the Majority Whip, Mr. Ishaka Bawa; and the
Deputy Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, on the membership.
The development
followed a complaint by a lawmaker from the state, Mr. Andrew Uchendu, who
reported that “militants and ex-militants” disrupted the sitting of the State
House of Assembly in Port Harcourt
“Over 20
militants and ex-militants invaded the state House of Assembly this morning and
disrupted the activities of the House. The Commissioner of Police was informed
but no action was taken to stop the attackers.
“People were
injured; as I speak, members of the House insist on sitting with their
blood-stained clothes”, Uchendu told his colleagues.
Uchendu said he
was not surprised by the alleged failure of the police to act, owing to the
raging feud between the state command and the state Governor, Amaechi.
“What is
happening in Rivers State today is not democracy in action. We fought so hard
for this democracy that people are toying with today”, he added.
The House had
set up an ad hoc committee last week to intervene in the crisis after relations
between Amaechi and the state police command deteriorated to a point of
name-calling.
The Deputy
Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over Tuesday’s session,
expressed shock over the turn of events in Rivers State.
He stated that
the House was committed to finding a peaceful solution to the tension in the
state, a reason he named Bawa and Ogor to beef up the intervention committee.
“My ruling is
that the committee must conclude this work and get back to the House by Tuesday
next week”, Ihedioha declared.
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