There was palpable panic in GRA area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, early Wednesday, as gunshots marred a protest which held at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat.
Several supporters of the APC believed to be loyal to a former federal lawmaker, Senator Magnus Abe, stormed the party’s secretariat to protest the alleged hijack of state assembly aspirants screening and ward/state delegates’ selection.
It was gathered that the aggrieved members stormed the secretariat at about 6am, but were barred from entering as the gate to the building was under lock and key.
In an attempt to force their way into the secretariat, the policemen stationed at the building started shooting sporadically into the air to scare the protest away.
This in turn caused pandemonium in the area as journalists and other passers-by scampered for safety.
The New Diplomat reports that the Rivers state chapter of APC has been witnessing crisis which has generated into the formation of two factions: Abe-led faction and Rotimi Amaechi-led faction.
The crisis was recently fuelled by the endorsement of Lagos-based businessman, Tonye Cole, as the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers State, a position Abe is also aspiring for. Though, the party had said the decision to choose Cole as its consensus candidate, was not made by Ameachi, Abe had rejected the decision, adding that the process through which Cole emerged was against the tenets of democracy.
