BEVERLY HILLS, November 12, (THEWILL) –Â The convoy of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and that of Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, on Saturday, locked horns in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Both men gave conflicting accounts of the incident which occurred at Trans Amadi Road, by Nwanja Junction.
Wike called the confrontation a bid to assassinate him while Amaechi, on his part, said he was nearly shot by the governor’s security aides.
Amaechi’s escort details were, however, unlucky during the 3p.m. attack, as one of them, Sgt. Eteng Ewelu, was battered, with blood on his face, while the AK-47 rifle of Sgt. Princewill Ubaji was snatched, while being forcibly disarmed, with the rifle taken away by the Rivers governor’s convoy.
Wike, through his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, claimed that personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) and soldiers attached to the Minister attacked his convoy attempting to assassinate him.
“Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, on Saturday escaped assassination, as Special Anti-Robbery Squad operatives and soldiers of the Nigerian Army in the motorcade of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, attacked his convoy,” he claimed.
“The governor, who was on project inspection, was attacked at Nwanja Junction on Trans-Amadi Road. The SARs personnel and soldiers in the minister’s convoy hit down the governor’s escort rider and attacked the policemen in the pilot car. Mr Debewari, Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the minister of transportation, supervised the attack, which included damage of cameras held by journalists.
“Also part of the attack was the Commander of F-SARS in Rivers State, Mr. Akin Fakorede (a Chief Superintendent of Police), who received the minister of transportation at the Port Harcourt International Airport and accompanied him on his trip.”
But Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi Media Office in a statement said, “In a blatant show of naked raw power, Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi narrowly escaped being shot by security men attached to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. His car wasn’t that lucky though. The car was vandalized with a broken side mirror.
“One of the two cars had security men assigned to protect the Minister in Port Harcourt. Suddenly, gun-toting security men attached to Wike’s convoy surrounded the Minister’s car, threatening to shoot him.
“They hit the car, tried to smash the windscreens, back and side windows and broke a side mirror. All through this attack, Amaechi remained calm, inside the fortified Jeep.
“However, when Governor Wike got to the point where the incident occurred after Amaechi’s vehicle had gone by, his security men blocked the road again, dragged out from a vehicle and thoroughly beat up a police man attached to protect Amaechi in Port Harcourt. The Policeman’s riffle was also taken from him.”
THEWILL recalls that since Wike succeeded Amaechi in 2015 as Governor of Rivers, both men have been engaged in a political war.
Curiously, Amaechi and Wike are both Ikwerre which consists of four Rivers Local Government Areas of Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre and Emohua.
While the Minister hails from Ubima in Ikwerre LGA, the Governor is an indigene of Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor council.
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