Rallies in support of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, continued on Saturday in major towns and state capitals with his supporters marching through the streets of Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Owerri, Imo State; Umuahia, Abia State; Awka, Anambra State; Yenagoa, Bayelsa State; and Jos, Plateau State.
The police in Ebonyi State, however, dispersed members of the Obidient Movement, who gathered at the Pastoral Centre, Abakaliki, for the one million man march in support of Obi.
One of our correspondents, who was at the takeoff point of the rally, reports that men of the Nigeria Police Force fired teargas canisters at the supporters.
The incident caused both human and vehicular traffic on the Old Enugu Road.
One of the organisers, Steve Ugama, said aside from dispersing the supporters, about five of his colleagues were arrested by the police.
However, the supporters later regrouped in another part of the town and continued with the march.
Reacting to the development, the Special Assistant on Media and Strategy to Governor David Umahi, Chooks Okoh, said he was not aware of the disruption of the rally, adding, however, that the organisers did not pay the required fees to stage the march.
The governor’s aide said in a statement, “The attention of the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State has been drawn to some online publications and rumours making the rounds that he ordered the disruption of a gathering in support of one of the presidential candidates in the 2023 elections. This is not true.
“The Executive Governor of Ebonyi state is certainly not aware of any disruption of any gathering as he didn’t order any. He is a democrat, who believes firmly in the rule of law. He wishes every contending politician the very best and will insist on a level playing ground for all. If it is true that the police dispersed people, the answer will surely rest with the police.’’
The state police command, on its part, said it acted based on the rules of engagement, adding that organisers of the rally did not pay the specific fees as directed by the state government.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Chris Anyanwu, stated this in a statement, a copy of which was made available to Sunday PUNCH.
The statement read, “Several unfounded allegations of police high-handedness have been renting the air with regards to the one-million-man-rally organised by the Labour Party and other loyalists of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign in Ebonyi State.
“It is pertinent to put the records straight in spite of all false allegations and the press release from the state government.
“Granted that the organisers of the rally had a brief meeting with the police command authority represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, it was expected that the group should abide by the outcome of the meeting and the requisite conditions given by the state government, which include the payment of a certain amount of money for the use of the stadium as a take-off point as well as another refundable sum of money as a collateral in case of any damage to government property/infrastructure.’’
However, the Coalition of South-East Youths Leaders condemned the attack on the Obi supporters by the police.
In a statement by its President-General, Chief Goodluck Ibem, the coalition demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of all the policemen involved in the dehumanisation of the supporters.
He also demanded that compensation should be paid to all the affected youths, saying the attack was a tyrannical act.
The statement read in part, “The Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex socio-political youth group in the South-East geopolitical zone, condemns in strongest terms the unwarranted and unlawful attack with teargas by men of the Nigeria Police Force on supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, known as the Obidient Movement, who gathered at Enugu Road in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, for a peaceful match in support of their candidate.
‘No law violated’
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has reacted to the disruption of the rally in Ebonyi State on Saturday.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, the party said the disruption showed that the All Progressives Congress government had adopted violence and rascality as an official policy in the Nigerian political system.
While comforting the attacked supporters, he condemned the unprovoked attack and also accused the state governor, state police command and the APC of disturbing the peace and well-being of the country without resolving the various security issues across the nation.
Arabambi also told one of our correspondents that the rallies were not the same as the presidential campaign of Obi, stressing that the rallies did not violate the embargo on campaigns by the Electoral Act, 2022, describing them as “fitness walks.”
“It’s just a fitness walk. We are getting fit to defeat the APC in 2023. We are not campaigning and did not violate any law. They were the ones that violated the law by campaigning for votes in an open place during their presidential primary,” he added.
Anambra rally
A coalition of support groups in Anambra State, on Saturday, held a solidarity march in support of Obi.
The supporters marched from the Alex Ekwueme Square, near the state House of Assembly through Aroma to Eke-Awka Road and the U-turn linking Kwata along the Enugu-Awka Expressway and back to the square in Awka.
