Reaction trails Police banning of Rallies in Rivers State……
APC says it is a futile Exercise, illegality, abuse of inalienable Right of Rivers People
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Rivers Police Command’s directive banning any form of rallies or political gatherings in Rivers State as an act of illegality as well as an abuse of the inalienable right of the people of Rivers State to freely associate as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, alleging that the directive is a “direct declaration of war on the long-suffering people of Rivers State”.
The party in a statement by Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, Senior Special Aide on Media and Publicity to Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ikanya, on Monday 3rd February, 2014 said, “We are aware that this satanic directive is aimed at disrupting our membership drive and registration of our teeming loyalists scheduled to start this Wednesday, the 5th of February, 2014. This draconian and unwarranted directive at this period is clearly targeted at frustrating us after we have already trained our Registration Officers and mobilised materials in this regard to all the awards in Rivers State. This latest act of impunity by the Rivers State Police Command under the watch of CP Mbu Joseph Mbu designed to sabotage our membership drive will however fail as it lacks the power to stop this nationwide exercise from being carried out in Rivers State”.
Continuing, the party said, “For the avoidance of doubt, Rivers State is still an integral part of Nigeria and subject to Nigerian laws, including the one that guarantees the people’s right to freedom of association