…if true, report to police immediately – Giadom
National Vice Chairman, South-South of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Hilliard Eta, on Wednesday, raised the alarm over alleged threats to his life by people he described as political thugs operating from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
But factional acting National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Giadom, urged him to report the case to the police immediately, saying it might be possible that Eta is even the one who has a plan to bring in thugs from Calabar, Cross River to achieve a sinister objective.
Eta, who vowed to to file a formal complaint with the police, further alleged that some persons were planning to set ablaze the APC national secretariat and turn round to accuse the National Working Committee of perpetrating the crime and claim it did so because it did not want Giadom and his supporters to access the premises.
He said, “We got information that they are going to send thugs from Port Harcourt, they are coming here to burn the Secretariat and make it look like the National Working Committee instigated a fire incident so that the Secretariat will be burnt down and then, they will give the impression that it is the NWC that is burning down the Secretariat because they do not want Victor to come in.
“They have two intentions; that is number one. Number two is that they are going to make an attempt on my life. I just thought that I should let the press know this.
“I am just moving out of my house, I am coming to the Secretariat from; there, I will report to the police.”
But Giadom dared Eta to report the alleged threat to his life to police, saying he would not want to join issues with anyone.
He noted that the ban on interstate movement does not make it possible for thugs to crisscross territories.
While advising Eta to avail the police details of the information at his disposal, Giadom alleged that the accuser could be the one planning to import thugs from his native Cross River State.
“Ordinarily, I would not have reacted. If he has such information, let him report to the police. The police have the capability to track such persons. Maybe that is his plan because we all know that there is a ban on interstate movement and it is difficult. He should report to the police if he has any such information except of course he is the one planning to bring in people from Calabar”, he stated.
A chieftain of the APC, Prince Tonye Princewill, who is an ally of Rotimi Amaechi the Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has stressed the need for an external intervention to resolve the lingering crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the party.
The intractable crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the APC is also currently threatening the party leadership at the national level.
Princewill said, “In 2019, we saw the result of ‘if it’s not me, then it’s nobody’. Today, we are seeing it building slowly again. I didn’t join APC for this. Call leaders to order, calm frayed nerves and let us end this public show of shame. It is only the Presidents that can solve this. The Senate President, the Vice President or the President himself. As an Imperial college engineer by training, I believe if you understand problems, you can design solutions. Please, therefore, permit me to quote from physics. Newton’s first law of motion to be exact. It says thus, ‘that everybody continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force to do otherwise.’ In other words, this big wahala will not end, unless big external forces intervene. Amaechi sacrificed more than most for this party. Bear with him. He has earned that right. Edo and Rivers are linked. And Rivers can move mountains. Suspending Amaechi can never be an option. But I fear that things are about to escalate.
“A party that reflects only Magnus Abe or any other interest and their supporters is not going to take us to the promised land. Neither is one that will reflect only our former Governor, the Honourable Minister and his key team. Everyone should be given a chance to get involved now. This is precisely where I differ on the recent Dele & Ors judgement. Everyone in APC should have been allowed to contest any Congress. We’re now in 2020. Not just those members who purchased forms in 2018. A lot has happened since then. But it is what it is. The court has spoken. We cannot go against the court and hope that it will be forgotten.
“Finally, nobody should be surprised at either side showing distrust. The history of ‘betrayal’ is long and the nerves are still raw. People are very afraid. Some even of their shadow. Those who are not, will go ahead and look for peace outside a court. Boma Erekosinma said, ‘I dey there better pass dem say.’ We have put too much into APC to be observers. If truly you believe that Wike plans to take over the APC, through Igo Aguma, Magnus Abe or anyone, complaining is not a strategy.
“I belong to the group of Amaechi supporters that believes peace is better than war. Since we are not afraid of wars, there is no way on this earth we can be afraid of peace. We do not operate out of fear.”
