Police deny intentional attack on Rivers Governor

The police in Rivers State have denied any intention to harm Governor Siminalayi Fubara when he visited the House of Assembly on Monday after it was bombed.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP. Grace Iringe-Koko, issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the police did not know that Fubara was coming to the complex but were focused on preventing further attacks by hoodlums on the facility.

The police gave an account of what happened on the day the governor was attacked, saying: “On Monday, October 30th, we received reliable intelligence that some armed group of persons planned to cause chaos in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, especially at the State House of Assembly, where there was a case of arson a day before that we are still investigating. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations quickly deployed armed police operatives, whom he personally led, to stop the ‘hoodlums’ and ensure the safety of lives and properties within the State House of Assembly facility and its surroundings.

“At the gate of the complex, we saw that over a hundred youths had started a protest to enter the complex and behave in a way that could disturb the peace.

“We used non-lethal crowd control equipment, such as tear gas and water cannons, to scatter the violent and unruly protesters.

“However, a few minutes later, another aggressive group of people came to the gate of the complex and moved towards the premises. We also used the same equipment to deal with them, but we noticed that the Executive Governor of the State, His Excellency, Siminalayi Fubara, was among them.