Protesters in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital held a public demonstration on Tuesday, causing a massive traffic gridlock along the busy Aba Road.
The demonstrators who referred to themselves as the Ikwerre People’s Assembly carried placards and chanted slogans accusing Governor Chibuike Amaechi of high handedness and deliberate provocation of law enforcement officers.
Some of the protest leaders said that the Ikwerres had lost confidence in the Governor’s leadership and accused him of mismanagement of funds.
In a swift reaction, the Rivers State Government described the demonstration as an assembly masterminded by opponents of Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
In an interview with Channels Television, Chief of Staff to Rivers State Governor, Mr. Tony Okocha, explained that the group, Ikwerre People’s Assembly does not exist and was merely an expression coined to give the gathering an identity.
He said that the attacks against the Governor were unjustified and that calling Governor Amaechi a despot because he was firm about doing the right thing was a misunderstanding of the whole issue.
