Rivers APC says supporters injured in ‘explosion’ at rally — but police insist it was ‘fight’
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers says some of its supporters were injured in an “explosion” that occurred during its governorship campaign in the state.
On Thursday, the Rivers APC held its governorship campaign rally at Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Speaking with BBC, Darlington Nwauju, Rivers APC spokesperson, said the “explosion” happened around 1pm and five people were injured.
Nwauju said some elements of the explosive device were removed from the body of one of the injured persons, adding that it happened before Tonye Cole, the party’s governorship candidate, arrived at the venue.
Reacting to the incident, Grace Iringe-Koko, Rivers police spokesperson, told TheCable that no explosion occurred, adding that the incident was a clash between the community members and party supporters.
“There was no explosion in Rivers state, but I know that there was an altercation [involving] the community CDC chairman,” she said.
“There was an internal problem within them, because the APC paid and CDC chairman did not disburse the money among the community people.
“This is what caused that altercation. There was a fight within them. We are not aware of any form of explosion.”
