Rivers Election Tribunal: Drama As Police Make U-Turn

Wike and Peterside

Mild drama played out before the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday, as the Nigerian Police Force, which earlier testified that the April 11 gubernatorial election in the state was marred by violence, reversed itself, saying the poll was peaceful and credibly conducted. Police went ahead to disown the testimony of previous officers that were brought to testify before the tribunal by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

Those that testified for the police yesterday were an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, Mr. Akugbo Kenneth and Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, Mr. Uche Mike Chukwuma.

In his evidence-in-chief yesterday, ASP Kenneth, who is currently at the force intelligence Unit in Lagos, told the court that he was in charge of police officers that monitored election at Gokana and Eleme Local Government Areas of the state during the election.

Vanguard report continues:

He insisted that there was no form of violence or ballot box snatching in all the polling units his team patrolled on the election day, saying it was not true that armed thugs carted away election materials meant for the two local government areas under his supervision.

Spirited attempt by counsel to the petitioners, Chief Akinolu Olujunmi, SAN, to stop the witness from testifying before the tribunal yesterday was overruled by the Justice Suleiman Ambrosa-led panel.

Olujunmi had argued that ASP Kenneth was not a proper witness, noting that the subpoena that was served on him by the tribunal was not properly addressed.

Meantime, the DW-13, CSP Chukwuma, in his own testimony yesterday, told the tribunal that as at April 11 when the election held, he was the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, incharge of Ahoda East LGA.

According to him, “I played a major role during the election, as a matter of fact, my role started on April 10. In the morning of that day I had a lecture with my men and tutored them on the role they were expected to play as security agents monitoring election.

“My lords, around 10:30am, I led two patrol vans with full crew of personnel and escorted the electoral officer of Ahoda East, Mrs. Beauty Abebunwa and some of her staff to INEC office in Port Harcourt to retrieve electoral materials.

“At about 4pm that same day, she (Abebunwa) told me that she has gotten the materials for Ahoda Eats and that we should go back, so we escorted her back to Ahoda East”.

He told the tribunal that the electoral materials were distributed to INEC officers at three RAC centers situated at Edogha, Ahoda Central and Odiomarenyi.

“These three RAC centers are in the three sub-clans in Ahoda East, which are, Upata clan, Igbo-Ahoda and Akoh. That night I was on patrol all through with two patrol vans.

“In the morning of April 11, sister agencies comprising of the Nigeria Prison Service, Immigration, Federal Road Safety Commission and Civil Defence, sent there men to join my men on ground already.

“In all, I had 305 uniformed personnel physically posted to me for deployment. When INEC finished distribution of election materials that morning, I poster unarmed uniformed men to the various polling units. At Ahoda East we had about 154 polling units divided into two constituencies.

“Within constituency one, I posted 110 police men, and 195 police men at constituency two. I had two patrol vehicles sent to me from the state headquarters.

“I can testify that accreditation began around 8am and I monitored the process with the Electoral Officer. At about 12:30, accreditation stopped. Within 1:30 to 2pm, voting started. I had two patrol vehicles attached to me directly. In the course of my whole patrol, I did not witness any violence or snatching of electoral materials”.

Asked under cross-examination if he knew DS P Chisom Ezebuiro, who had in his testimony as the PW-51, alleged that Ahoda East was a bed of violence on April 11, CSP Chukwuma, told the tribunal that Ezebuiro lied on oath.

He said: “I know Ezebuiro very well, he played a passive role in that election. He only brought in his men for deployment. When I was going on patrol, I asked him to join my team as a gesture of friendship but he refused, saying he was not feeling fine. Until the election ended, he was at the station and did not go out.

“If he came before this tribunal and testified that there was violence during the election then he lied. I was the DPO in charge of Ahoda East. If there was any violence it would have been brought to my notice. There was no such incident, I cannot imagine where he got his information.

“It is not true that Rivers state was a volatile state. I am a Rivers state man by birth, compared to other states, it will be wrong for anyone to come before this tribunal to say that violence marred the governorship election that held in the state on April 11”, he added.

Asked by counsel to the petitioners if he was not the same person that tear-gassed Senator Magnus Abe during a rally the APC held on January 3, the witness, denied the allegation, saying he is a friend to the Senator.

He however admitted that he was sent to go and disperse those that held the APC rally following an intelligent report that the gathering could lead to breach of peace in the state.

It will be recalled that some security operatives who were deployed to Rivers State during the election, had in their separate testimonies before the tribunal, maintained that nefarious activities of armed thugs scared voters away on that election day.

The security agents who were brought to the tribunal by the petitioners, testified that at various polling units, thugs who they said shot sporadically into the air, manhandled INEC ad-hoc staff, snatched election materials and ran inside bush.

In his testimony, DDP Ezebuiro who is from Mopol 48, PMF, Ahoda, told the court that no accreditation or election held in the area.

He told the tribunal that a leader of a cult group identified as ‘The Icelanders’, one Martins Mana, who he said was arrested by Soldiers with an AK-47, was quickly released.

The witness said despite the restriction on movement, he said people freely moved about in cars, speedboats and bicycles on the Election Day.

Similarly, the PW-50, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Yusuf Buba from 56 police mobile force squadron Ogoni, said he witnessed massive thumb-printing of ballot papers at a football pitch situated inside a police station.

He told the tribunal that an Assistant Commissioner of Police and the Electoral Officer incharge of Kana local government area in the state, masterminded the electoral malpractice.

He said: “At Boni Area Command, I met people thumb printing in a football field. I immediately disembarked and went to the Area commander’s office where I met the E.O. seated in his office.

“I reported to him about what I saw and he said I should mind my business. I was left with no option that to leave his office and continue my patrol. We visited various other places like Gwara, Okpoku, Banga, Daaba, Kor, Lubara, Uiikara, Sogo and what I noticed was that there was no election taking place in all those places.

“I called my squadron commander and gave him the SitRep and he asked me to keep watching. We returned back to INEC office after our patrol. At There I was told that the materials that where released in the early morning were all snatched at gun point. When I asked about the police men on duty I was told that all of them took to their heels”.

His evidence was however refuted by 16 witnesses that were earlier produced before the tribunal by INEC.

Meanwhile, Governor Wike who has so far called 13 witnesses will continue the defence of election victory before the tribunal today.