9th July, 2013
The sitting of Nigeria’s Rivers State House of Assembly was disrupted this morning when hoodlums and some members attacked the principal officers of the house, with an assortment of weapons.
The house which adjourned sine die for some weeks now, in the wake of the political crisis between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan’s pointsmen in the state, re-opened this morning at about 9.45 a.m.
Proceedings have barely started when some members, said to belong to the G5 minority group, arrived with some hoodlums and started beating up the majority leader of the house, Chidi Lloyd with sticks, microphone and camera stands and any object that could serve as cudgels.
The Speaker of the house, Otelemaba Amachree was similarly attacked and the mace broken.
Speaker Amachree told P.M.News : “We had begun sitting when Honourable Evans Bapakaye Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo constituency came into the house with thugs and started raining blows on the majority leader of the House. And he also came to attack me. He was later joined by Hon. Michael Ogochukwu Chinda from Obio/Akpor 2 constituency. They used all manners of weapons to attack us. As I am talking to you now, the majority leader, Chidi Llyod is drenched in blood”.
Asked whether the police were not at the assembly when the mayhem was going on, Amachree said they were there but refrained from intervening.
There are 33 members of the Assembly, with those allied with the incumbent governor Rotimi Amaechi said to be 28, with the Jonathan/Nyesom Wike supporters having five.
The fracas today came amidst speculations that the five members supporting Wike, a minister in the Jonathan cabinet were plotting the impeachment of Speaker Amachree.
Reports said the Group of Five legislators plan to kick out the speaker at today’s session sparked off the show of fisticuffs. The move was said to have been spearheaded by Bipi.
The speaker, Amachree was about addressing a press conference as at the time of this report.