Heavy shootings, Many Injured, Death in Rivers [photo]

 In Rivers State, heavy shooting was reported in Ozuoba and Rumuolumeni in Obio Akpor Local Government Area.
Soldiers moved into Buguma in Asari Toru LGA where two persons were feared dead, also amid heavy shooting  allegedly by political thugs. A police patrol vehicle, the house of the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Joeba West, and INEC polling centre in Kalabari National College in the town were this morning razed by unknown arsonists.
It was learnt that about 80 per cent of the card readers deployed in Okrika were not working.
Failure of card readers on massive scale was also reported in Abua Odua LGA where polling officers resorted to Incident Forms.
Meanwhile, Governor Chibuike Amaechi described the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the state as a sham, saying they were marred by ballot papers snatching and hijacking of other sensitive materials of INEC.

 He also alleged that his phone number was cloned by people who used it to send text messages to APC members in the state not to participate in the elections.  Amaechi spoke shortly after he was accredited at his ward in Ubima community in Ikwerre local government area. His wife was also accredited.
Failure of card readers on massive scale was also reported in Abua Odua LGA where polling officers resorted to Incident Forms.
Meanwhile, Governor Chibuike Amaechi described the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the state as a sham, saying they were marred by ballot papers snatching and hijacking of other sensitive materials of INEC.
He also alleged that his phone number was cloned by people who used it to send text messages to APC members in the state not to participate in the elections.  Amaechi spoke shortly after he was accredited at his ward in Ubima community in Ikwerre local government area. His wife was also accredited.

 Chief Press Secretary to the governor,  Mr. David Iyofor, quoted his principal as saying the election was a failed exercise going by reports available to him from several parts of  Rivers.
“From what we saw on our way to Ubima and reports we got from across the state, it is unfortunate this can happen”, he said. In a related development, the leader of APC in Obio Akpor LGA, Chief Tony Okocha, alleged that result sheets for nine wards in the local government were missing.
According to him, they were replaced with cloned result sheets.
Continuing, he said he had directed members of the party to only vote when they see authentic result sheets, adding that he had also complained to the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dame Gecilia Khan.

 “Our people will go and vote but they should counter sign result sheets if we must vote.
Result sheets for Wards 9, 10, 11,17,13,8,2 and12 are missing”, the APC leader stated.
“I have sent text messages to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gecilia Khan, and Professor Olurinde, sent by the  Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  Prof Atahiru Jega.
“These are th e results we know that have been taking. They replaced them with cloned results. We are ready for the elections. But the REC should counter sign the result sheets”.
The PDP candidate in the gubernatorial election in Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, hails from Obio Akpor LGA.
About 50 heavily armed soldiers mounted heavy blockade around the family residence of the governorship candidate.
Vehicles were thoroughly searched before being allowed to drive through Wipey Junction, a very busy intersection close to the family residence.
At about 6.40am, the soldiers were emptying sand bags from one of their trucks.
Pedestrians were seen raising their hands as they walked past the soldiers who took strategic positions with their rifles.
Wike dismissed the claim by Amaechi that the elections were a sham.
The gubernatorial candidate, who said the governor should not be taken seriously, urged politicians in Rivers to emulate Jonathan who conceded defeat in the presidential election.
“Which election has he (Amaechi) not described as a sham?   He dismissed the presidential election as a sham but when Buhari won, did he not say it was an act of God?”, he said.
He accused the governor of allegedly going round some wards in Obio Akpor local government area, adding that he disrupted the election in Ward 12.
Wike also said INEC had postponed elections in Wards 15 and 16   in the local government area.
Some voters reportedly protested against the presence of  Amaechi in some wards in Omagwa in Ikwerre local government area, saying he should go to Ubima where he registered.

The governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Dr Dakuku Peterside, said accreditation for the election went on smoothly in his Opobo community at the time he spoke to newsmem.
He, however,  alleged that about seven members of his party were killed in Ogba Egbema Ndoni local government area. This, however, could not be confirmed from the police at press time.
He also alleged that materials were hijacked in several parts of the state.
Senator Magnus Abe, who represents Rivers South-East in the Senate, made similar allegations about Gokhana,   saying the elections did not hold there.
Minister of State for Industry,Chief Kenneth Kobani, countered Abe, maintaining that the elections went on smoothly in several areas of Gokhana local government area.