The national leadership of the Action Peoples Party (APP) has condemned in strong terms the Sunday night bomb attack on its Rivers State secretariat in the GRA axis of Port Harcourt.
Yet-to-be-identified assailants were reported to have been attacked around 9:30 pm by the attackers, damaging the front glass door of the office still under renovation.
An eyewitness who spoke under the condition of anonymity for security reasons said the assailants, numbering about 4, came in a small car believed to be a Toyota Camry.
He said the explosive was detonated by two men who came out of the car parked a little distance from the office, and immediately after the bomb went off the car, the other two assailants met them, and they drove off.
The damage to the office was minimal, shattering only the glass door to the office. No injury or death was reported from the attack.
Reacting to the attack, Uchenna Nnadi, National Chairman of the Action People’s Party (APP), described the attack as a heinous act of terrorism.
“It is a treasonable act. We thank God almighty, who spared the lives of our members. Immediately after a strategic meeting in the dead of the night, this heinous act was carried out.
“We are all aware of what is happening in Rivers State and that it is all about seizing the treasury of Rivers State. We know this is not the first time this act of terrorism has happened; we have had incidents of bombing before.
“We are calling upon Mr President and the Heads of Security Agencies to go after these criminal elements whose interests are to instil fear and violence in Rivers State.”.
He, however, stated that the party was not deterred by the attack, saying, “We, as a party, are not deterred.
“We are sure that they are getting the signal of Rivers People joining our party in preparation for the forthcoming local government election.
“And they want to undermine the good policy of the governor, who wants to conduct the LGA election. At first, these people said that they would conduct local government elections, and the governor set plans in place to conduct the election.
“We know how they have been shopping from one order to the next in courts in the federation, trying to stop the LG elections.
“They have seen that they are not able to achieve that; they have resorted to violence. They want to stop the process and the good policies of the governor at all costs.
“But I am sure that the good people of Rivers State know that the intention of the governor is for the welfare of the populace.
“So we condemn this act. We call Mr President and heads of security agencies to go after these people who are behind this criminality. Let them face the music and the long arm of the law.
“We call upon our members and supporters in Rivers State to rally around the party; let them not be deterred.”.
On his part, the State Chairman, Sunny Wokekoro, also declared that the attack has strengthened their resolve to prepare for the local government elections.
He said, “Those who have done this had thought that this would deter us; unfortunately, it has given us more resolve to go on to do what we are supposed to do because it is a clear indication of defeat on their side. It is a clear indication that we are doing the right thing, and we will not be deterred at all.
“This barbaric act of people who think that they are reservoirs of violence, who think that Rivers State must bend to whatever they want, we have come to change the narrative.
“Whether anybody likes it or not, one thing that is constant in life is change, but the beauty of it is that the people are against them, the time is against them, and most importantly, God is against them.
The unique thing about leadership is that you do not tell your people to go; you go with them. Our supporters are not in any way deterred.
“The truth of the matter is that PDP is emptied into APP. They are totally emptied, and the earlier they understood that, the better for them.
“We are only asking that the governor of the state ensure to call on the security apparatus to do the needful. I thank the commissioner of police in Rivers State for his prompt response of coming here to see things for himself; it is a booster to some of us.
“We believe that he is going to do the needful so that the perpetrators of this crime will be brought to book.”
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