Rivers commissioner faults PDP over Okrika shootings

RIVERS State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, has told the Peoples Democratic Party in the state to stop linking him to the attack on the All Progressives Congress rally in Okrika Local Government Area.

Parker, who was reacting to the allegation by the PDP that APC top shots in Okrika were among the masterminds of the mayhem in the area, described the allegation as false and illogical.

It will be recalled that the State Secretary of the PDP, Dr. Ibibia Walters, had blamed the disruption of the APC governorship rally in Okrika on the leadership tussle of members of the party (APC) in the area.

But Parker said in a statement on Sunday that there was no leadership tussle in the APC in Okrika, adding that though there were two commissioners in APC from Okrika, Davi Alagbere remained the leader of the party in the area.

“Unlike in the PDP, there is some sense of orderliness in the APC. I abhor violence. And I cannot bring myself so low as to perpetrate violence against my own people. Okrika people are peaceful and hospitable.

“The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has asked the Assistant-Inspector General of Police, AIG, Tunde Ogunsakin, to carry out a full-scale investigation into the incident. So, he should not be in a hurry to cast aspersions. I hope that the police will do a thorough job,” the commissioner said.

Similarly, the Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Rivers State chapert, Mr.Kingsley Ibanichuka, decried the shooting and bombing that rocked the APC governoship rally in Okrika.

Ibanichuka wondered why Parker would be drawn into the incident, adding that the commissioner contributed immensely to the organisation of the APC rally.

He said, “Why should anyone attack his own people? It is not possible. The PDP knows what happened. They should tell the police what really happened. Dr. Parker is a man of peace and a strong supporter of the APC.

“Parker has built enormous support among his people in Okrika. Okrika people are peace loving and hospitable. Violence is violence. The police should conduct a thorough investigation into the incidence.”

Also, a former governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party, Mr. David Okugba, explained that the attack on APC rally last week followed a similar pattern of an earlier attack on the party rally on January 24, 2015.

According to Okugba, who is one of the stakeholders in Okrika, “We know where it is coming from. The script was written before the rally was held at Okrika. It didn’t take the attackers much time to frighten APC supporters and policemen from the venue of the rally.

“The APC does not have the capacity to do what happened last Tuesday. Policemen were there to maintain law and order. The commissioner of police should be worried that violence of such magnitude is happening under his watch.

“APC members and supporters have been attacked in the past. The police should ensure that this assault on the APC is thoroughly investigated so that these ugly incidents don’t deteriorate.”