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* Says PDP behind police action

* You’ve penchant for raising false alarms, Wike tells Abe

By Egufe Yafugborhi, PORT HARCOURT

GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Rivers state, Sen Magnus Abe, on Saturday disclosed that several members of the party have been arrested and locked up on perceived trumped-up charges by the Police in the state.

Briefing on the development in Port Harcourt, the SDP candidate said the police are further trailing key members of Rivers SDP Campaign Council now in hiding with repeated police visits to their homes in what Abe sees as a plot to intimidate supporters to prevent the SDP from campaigning freely and coming out to vote.

He said, “Several members of our party have been arrested on trumped up charges, by security agencies, most particularly by a police unit called RTI led by one Commander SP Emeka Egbo who has turned himself into an armed wing of the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to harass and intimidate members of the SDP in the state.

“Mr Kamala Amachree, Chairman, Mobilisation Committee, Rivers SDP Campaign Council, has had more than three visits to his house by policemen from that unit. They have not left any message, nor have they left any indication of why he’s being trailed. The spokesperson of our campaign, Dr Bethel Oko-Jaja is under a similar threat.

“Representatives of non-indigenes on our campaign council are being trailed and harassed by this police team. In Tai Local Government Area, our members are being trailed daily and harassed. A lot of our members are now practically on the run for no reason at all.

“We try to inquire from the police if there are any allegations against our members, we should be told and they are invited formally. And they will respond to whatever issues there are. But the experience has been that once any member of the SDP is arrested, the same day they are taken to court and remanded on trumped-up charges.

“Anybody instigating a crisis should be ready for the consequences of such actions. We call on Nigerian Police and other security agencies to be swift in responding to all these kinds of issues. No amount of violence, intimidation and harassment will stop the match of the SDP to victory in Rivers state.”

Meanwhile, Governor Nyesom Wike has dismissed Abe’s indictment of the PDP as inducing police intimidation, stating that the SDP candidate, “has a penchant for raising a false alarm. Rivers people know there was a time Abe faked being a victim of a gunshot, yet could not produce a doctor’s report to the police to substantiate the claim.

“The kind of popularity that wins the election is not secured in the media with false alarms, but achieved with levels of direct relationship sustained with the people.”