The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, says he was attacked and beaten up by suspected political thugs in the state.
The incident occurred on Monday when Cole arrived at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office to inspect materials used in the March 18 election in the state.
According to reports, an altercation broke out when some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who were already at the INEC office, insisted that both parties should inspect the materials at the same time. This led to the violence that ensued.
The inspection of the materials is expected to enable the APC candidate and the party to file a petition against the victory of Sim Fubara, candidate of the PDP, who was declared the winner of the governorship election.
Speaking on his ordeal in an interview with Channels Television, Cole said he was slapped and injured in the fracas. He claimed that the PDP had organized thugs to prevent him and his team from accessing the INEC office.
“We said we were coming back today (Monday) and because we said we are coming back today, the PDP organized thugs everywhere to prevent us from getting to the INEC office,” he said.
“I wasn’t deterred and so I went with my party chairman, the women leader, the youth leader, and senior officials of the APC to the INEC office.
“They had barricaded the road from GRA junction, everywhere boys, girls. They began to assault me. I came out and a woman began to drag my shirt, they pulled me from the back. First, they were throwing water, then they began to throw food and the next minute they started throwing stones.
“The next thing after that, we started hearing gunshots, it took my security people to forcefully evict me. They destroyed our vehicles, they injured me.
“They slapped me, they punched me, they pulled my shirt, they dragged me, and then threw stones at me until I was injured in the back.”
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