Politics in Rivers has taken a new dimension. Apart from thuggery and violence, there is now resort to ‘juju’ diabolic and fetist practices as Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) besieged the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) office in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday with a ‘juju’ priest and herbalist.
Passers-by, including our reporter were stunned to see among the crowd a ‘juju’ priest dressed in his regalia with marks of chalk on his eyes and body, pouring libation and saying incantation maybe invoking the powers of ‘juju’ to sway INEC officials not to allow All Progressive Congress (APC), Rivers state to inspect incriminating electoral materials.
Meanwhile, lawyers of APC have been granted access to the vault of INEC where sensitive materials were kept.
It would be recalled that PDP, Rivers state had been protesting , asking that they be co-inspectors of the sensitive materials.
This led to a clash earlier on where thugs believed to be supporters of PDP attacked the governorship candidate of APC, Tonye Cole, party officials and some lawyers who were on their way to inspect the mterials as ordered by the court.
Some prominent Rivers people who spoke to Metronetworknews in an interview have condemned the attitude of PDP, advising that they should have gone to the court to get an injunction of co-inspectors rather than harassing APC lawyers who are engaging in a lawful act.
A Prominet Rivers son who pleaded to remain as Wuche, quoting late Professor Andrew Efemini, said, ”the truth is that Nigeria’s politics has been essentially Hobbesian. The struggle for power has been intense and violent. Little respect is paid to the rules that are necessary for stable democratic practice. Paid thugs were part of Nigeria’s politics, thugs that were used to harass opponens even kill them.
” Regrettably, today in Rivers state, politics has taken another dimension where there is now resort to fetist practices apart from thuggery, considering what happened at INEC office in Port Harcourt, where PDP came with herbalist to pour libation”.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the harassment of the APC lawyers in the lawful performance of their professional duties to their clients.
The Association in a statement by its President, Yakubu Maikyau, said a situation where the instrumentality of the police is used to harass and intimidate lawyers, is a direct affront to the rule of law and a threat to democracy.
‘It is an invitation to anarchy and chaos, as people would rather resort to self help than approach the civil and constitutional means provided for the resolution of disputes”, the statement stated.
