Court halts Rivers APC LG congress amidst shootings

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has given an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state from holding its local government congress scheduled for today, Saturday.
This was even as sporadic shootings rocked the  State High Court complex by hoodlums, whose identities could not be ascertained at press time.
But, in a swift reaction,  the State spokesman of  APC,  Chris Finebone, has declared that nobody could stop the ongoing local government congresses and accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  of masterminding the shootings around the court.
He alleged that the incident in court was a confirmation of their earlier allegation that some persons had been paid to destabilize the congresses. Also, the State Attorney General, Emma Aguma, has expressed worries over the attitude of APC supporters, noting that there was an attempt to shut down the state judiciary.
However, no casualty was recorded in the incident,  which was caused by the barricading of the courts complex gates by thousands of youths suspected to be supporters of the APC.
Saturday Sun gathered that the hoodlums had stormed the complex quite early in the morning, thus paralysing legal activities for several hours. It was further gathered that the protesters stormed the court, following plans by a faction of the APC to obtain a court order to stop the party from holding the LGA congress after a controversial ward congress a week ago.
Last Friday, court reportedly served motion on notice on the APC, but the leader of the party in the state and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, declined knowledge of such notice. Similarly,  on Thursday, the court  sat to hear the motion on notice as presented by the counsel by the faction of the APC, who sought  to stop the planned LG congress today.
However, after the shooting had stopped, Justice Chiwendu Nwogu, who delivered judgement on the motion on notice, barred the APC from going on with the congress and adjourned till June 26, for hearing. One of the counsels for the applicants, Henry Bello said: “I am counsel for the members of the APC, who were unconstitutionally excluded from participating in the purported congress even after they had satisfied the conditions precedence to their participation in the congress according to APC guidelines.
“They paid money for nomination forms. They paid but got to APC secretariat, it was locked only to hear winners have emerged in the congress and it is against the constitution of the party”.
Meanwhile, Cuturu Eddeh, the counsel for the APC, who was sent from the national headquarters to take over the matter, accused the state legal adviser of the party, Mr. Chiwikpe Chieme of professional misconduct, adding that he (Chiwikpe) does not have the mandate to represent APC in the matter.
Eddeh said: “This matter was brought to Port Harcourt from Bori on Monday. Him (Chiwikpe) coming to say he represented the APC is wrong. He went there and made damaging comments and representation of APC. The Chairman of the Party did not instruct him to stand in for the matter. I have a letter from the national headquarters to represent the party. He knows the implication of that.
“Chiwikpe does not have the right to represent the APC and make any submission on its behalf.  He has been suspended by the party since last year”.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the state, Aguma said: “The APC supporters came here and closed the court, but youths of Rivers State came and opened it. The police behaved well except for the men of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, who were shooting at Rivers youths.
“I am surprised that there was no casualties. My gratitude is to the youths of the state who came out en masse  to chase the APC away. The court was totally destroyed. The judge that came to work this morning, His Lordship Andrew Jaja was manhandled and his car totally vandalised.
“What is happening is not related to court, it is APC versus APC and they came to close the court. Tomorrow, they will come to say that the state is unsafe. They are not politicians. We are prepared to lay down our lives. Never again will courts in this state be closed again. They did it in 2014, they will not do it again”,  Aguma declared.
-Sun