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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, granted bail to 121 youths who were arrested during a protest against the impeachment of the Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Majority Leader, Edision Ehie, on Tuesday.
The suspects were arraigned by Police and the charges preferred against the youths included conspiracy, causing riot, damaging the house gate of the Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, unlawful assembly and causing breach of public peace.
Chief Magistrate Gift Amadi while ruling after the suspects had pleaded not guilty to the charges, granted the 121 youths bail with N100,000 each in like sum and 20 sureties for all the suspects.
The court later adjourned the case till December 5, 2023, for hearing.
It would be recalled that the youths including the state chairman of National Youth Council of Nigerian (NYCN), Chijoke Ihunwo, were arrested by the Rivers State Police Command, Old GRA Station, for protesting and later transfered to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
Meanwhile, the Police Command has denied any deliberate intention to attack Governor Fubara, during the violence that erupted around the State House of Assembly on Monday.
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police (SP), made the denial on Wednesday, describing the presence of the governor at the scene as surprising.
Iringe-Koko explained: “Following the receipt of credible intelligence on the intention of some armed group of persons to cause mayhem in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, particularly at the State House of Assembly on Monday, 30th October, and recalling the previous case of arson on the State House of Assembly a day prior which is currently being investigated, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations immediately deployed armed police operatives which, he personally supervised, in order to intercept the ‘hoodlums’ and ensure the protection of lives and properties within the State House of Assembly facility and its environ.
“At the entrance of the Complex, it was observed that youths numbering over a 100 had begun a protest to gain access to the Complex and conduct themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace. This led to the Police deploying non-lethal crowd control equipment including tear gas and water cannon to disperse the riotous and uncontrollable protesters.
“However, some minutes later, another aggressive group of persons approached the entrance of the complex and advanced towards the premises. The Police, therefore, engaged them in like manner, but observed that the Executive Governor of the State, His Excellency, Siminalayi Fubara, was in their midst.
“The presence of the governor at the scene was of great surprise and shock, as there was no prior communication to the Police on the visit of the governor to the scene of the crime, which ordinarily is the usual protocol and complimentary that we accompany his guard for proper safety considering the intelligence of security threat at hand then.
“In consideration of this, the DC Ops quickly took deliberate security steps to ensure his protection and safety, while the governor and his entourage went on to assess the level of damage caused by the fire incident.
“Thus, it is pertinent to state that the Police did not deliberately attack the governor, or even attempt to hurt anyone, let alone the Chief Executive and Security Officer of the state, which is our most essential role to protect as being peddled in the news.”
Meanwhile, the command has emplaced adequate security at the State House of Assembly Complex, including the Speaker’s House and other strategic locations as well as infrastructure in the state to forestall any unhealthy incident.
