In anticipation of the January 28 presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, soldiers and policemen have taken over the 40,000-capacity Adokiye Amesiemaka Stadium, located at Igwuruta-ali, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Sunday Independent gathered that the soldiers moved into the stadium early on Saturday.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) led Rivers State government and PDP have been at loggerheads over the planned use of the stadium for the PDP rally.
Rivers State PDP chairman, Felix Obuah, had said that the state government turned down the request to use the facility to host its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Wednesday, January 28.
Speaking on the issue, governorship candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, at a meeting with the Goodluck-to-Goodluck political pressure group in Port Harcourt, recently, said that the APC used the same facility recently and that the PDP would host Jonathan there.
The APC had used the facility to launch the party’s presidential campaign in the South-South earlier this month, even as it was used late last year to celebrate the anniversary of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s victory at the Supreme Court.
“The PDP presidential rally will hold at the Amesiemaka Stadium on Wednesday, January 28.
“Our presidential rally will hold at that stadium because it belongs to the people. It was built by taxpayers’ money. We are working with all stakeholders to ensure that the right thing is done to move the nation forward,” Wike said.
However, Amaechi, at a rally for APC governorship candidate in Etche Local Government Council of the state explained that the PDP could not use the stadium because it was under construction.
“The Adokiye Amiesiemaka Stadium is still under construction and the contractors are currently on site to make sure that they complete it so that we can hand over the stadium to Rivers people before we leave office on May 29.
“I hear that they (PDP) are insisting they will use the Adokiye Amiesiemaka Stadium, but we (Rivers State Government) will not allow them to use that stadium, and they will not use it,” the governor said.
About 30 soldiers were spotted at the entrances to the stadium on Saturday while others were inside.
Wike, former Minister of State for Education, visited the stadium accompanied by a combined team of armed security operatives, including Army, Navy, police and operatives from the Department of State Security about 12:55pm on Saturday.
It was learnt that Wike had gone to inspect the facilities at the stadium ahead of the rally on January 28.
Meanwhile, in the wee hours of Saturday, assailant suspected to be political thugs, set off explosives that might have been dynamite in the venue of the scheduled rally of the APC governorship candidate in Rivers, Dakuku Peterside, in Okrika. They destroyed the podium and canopies erected for the rally.
The assailants had overrun the venue of the rally three times, at 3:45am, 4am and 10am, when they destroyed the chairs, canopies and food items and drinks meant for refreshment at the rally.
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