The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned feuding politicians in Rivers State to shun violence.
This, it said, is to prevent the current political crisis from escalating, explaining that such a situation would work against the development of the state.
MOSOP’s President, Fegalo Nsuke, who issued the warning in a statement, also condemned calls for a declaration of a state of emergency in the state, stressing that the crisis can be resolved if politicians respect the courts and the Constitution.
Nsuke argued that it is the constitutional duty of the people of the state to defend their territory by refusing to be tools for violence, and by cooperating with relevant security agencies to ensure that peace is maintained through “a strategic and honest management” of the crisis.
He urged the feuding camps to show maturity and decency in the interest of peace and stability. Nsuke commended the people, the police and other security agencies for preventing the crisis from escalation and bloodshed.
MEANWHILE, the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Olatunji Disu, yesterday announced that two individuals were injured in an explosion that occurred earlier that morning along Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
The Police Chief confirmed that the suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was a dynamite, which exploded around the Presidential Hotel axis of Port Harcourt.
He said: “Four persons in white corolla vehicle somewhere along Aba Road stopped their vehicle and there was an explosion. Information we gathered was that two of the occupants of the vehicle were injured, while two others came out, put them in the vehicle and drove off.
The CP could not, however, confirm if the explosion was linked to the march organised by the pro-Wike protesters, who are in support of the police barricades of the local council secretariats.
HOWEVER, security agencies have apprehended a suspected mastermind of the explosion, and are currently investigating the incident.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, revealed that the suspect, who was brought to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital in the guise of being involved in a road traffic accident, was identified as a victim of a blast, while the case was immediately reported to the state government and the police.
Recall that the Health Commissioner, yesterday, had placed all medical facilities in the state, both public and private, on the alert for anybody who presents traumatically dismembered upper body injuries at their facilities.
