Violence rocked Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on Monday as supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clashed along Aba Road over the outcome of the March 18 governorship election. Early in the morning, around 8 a.m., hundreds of PDP supporters stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office on Aba Road, demanding a joint inspection of election materials by political parties before the election‑petition tribunal convened. The placard‑bearing protesters moved from the GRA area, paralysing traffic on the Waterlines axis.
The confrontation quickly escalated into a clash between PDP and APC supporters, leaving scores injured and one person struck by a stray bullet. APC governorship candidate Tonye Cole reportedly escaped a mob attack, being whisked away from the scene with minor injuries. According to our correspondent, while the PDP protest continued, Cole, accompanied by the state APC chairman Emeka Beke and other party leaders, arrived at the GRA junction heading for the INEC office. Upon learning of his presence, protesting youths rushed toward him, hurling stones and water sachets. Security operatives attached to Cole shielded him and drove him away, but the protesters persisted in pelting stones and water at his group.
Within minutes, soldiers from the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, along with personnel from the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, arrived and fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd. Security patrol vehicles were positioned in front of the INEC office to prevent any damage to the facility. Later, speaking to reporters at a different location, Cole claimed, “There was an assault on myself, my party chairman, and the woman leader, who were going peacefully to collect documents from INEC. We were not allowed to get anywhere near the INEC office. This was a deliberate act to prevent us from obtaining fundamental materials critical to our petition. They have told us they will be there Monday through Friday, by which time we will have no documents from INEC to present to the tribunal. All we are interested in is going to the tribunal. You say you have won; allow us to go to the tribunal to prove that you did not win.”
When contacted, PDP state publicity secretary Sydney Gbara dismissed Cole’s claims as false, stating, “The truth is that Pastor Tonye Cole is being economical with the truth and trying to deceive the gullible public. The PDP was at INEC to register their protest and demand inclusion in inspecting the result sheets, as several parties have done since the election. No other party has tried to frustrate or stop them. Today, Tonye Cole arrived with thugs dressed in police uniforms and attempted to disrupt what the PDP was doing, which we rejected. In the process, the thugs tried to disperse PDP supporters and opened fire on the crowd. One of our supporters was shot, rushed to the hospital, and has now been confirmed dead. Therefore, the PDP is calling on the Inspector‑General of Police and the state Commissioner of Police to arrest Tonye Cole immediately for the death of that young man.”
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