The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State on Wednesday condemned the action of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, who allegedly used thugs in army and police uniforms to destroy boats hired by PDP supporters in Southern Ijaw area of the state.
Director of Publicity of the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, who made the allegation in a statement said not only were the boats destroyed, the thugs also carted away their engines.
He said the PDP supporters had hired the boats to take them home to vote in their various localities ahead of Saturday’s election.
He stated that the incident took place at the Yenagoa waterside on Tuesday morning, involving about 20 boats when the thugs emerged from nowhere and descended on their victims, manhandled them and then destroyed the boats with the engines also removed.
Obuebite claimed the APC chairman, Tiwe Oruminighe, who also hails from Southern Ijaw, was spotted in company of about 15 men in army uniforms and about 10 other thugs dressed in mobile uniforms when they stormed the waterside shooting sporadically and forcefully seized the boats.
He said investigation by the PDP revealed that the thugs were hired by the APC chairman, who also gave them army and police uniforms to carry out the attack.
“By this morning (Wednesday) some of the boats were found floating in the middle of the river badly damaged and their engines taken away,” he stated.
He gave the name of the leader of the hired thugs as Ekpe Ekpe (Trigger) and allegedly leading a dangerous killer squad brought in from Cross River State, home state of APC candidate, Timipre Sylva’s wife.
He accused the alleged gang of being in possession of arms and ammunition as well as army and police uniforms to be distributed to other members of the gang both already in town and those still being expected to carry our terror on election day.
He said that the incident has vindicated the position of the PDP that leaders of the APC in the state had sewn army and police uniforms to be used by its hired thugs during the election to perpetrate heinous acts aimed at rigging the election.
Obuebite, therefore, called on the relevant security agencies to investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book.
He stressed that the APC should not be deluded that it has monopoly of violence, noting that APC leadership in the state has been doing everything to provoke PDP members but its members had so far restrained themselves from any retaliation in the interest of peace and stability in the state.
He stated: “The sad familiar scenario continues unabated but we want to state that there is limit to which we can restrain our members from retaliating the unwarranted attacks and provocations of the APC. Nobody has monopoly of violence. If the APC-led Federal Government fails to put a stop to this wanton display of federal might and sheer brigandage and violence being unleashed on us by APC in Bayelsa, we will be helpless if our members resort to defending themselves. And in that circumstance, the outcome will be too disastrous for the federal government to handle. The federal government must be alive to the responsibility of ensuring that nobody, no matter his position, abuses his office to support lawlessness”.
