Suspected thugs destroy Rivers SDP secretariat, Abe seeks probe

Suspected political thugs on Monday morning, allegedly attacked and destroyed the Secretariat of the Social Democratic Party in Nonwa, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Our correspondent gathered that the secretariat was scheduled for inauguration by the state SDP governorship candidate for the 2023 elections, Senator Magnus Abe, before the incident.

Abe, a former senator representing the Rivers South-East district in the National Assembly had recently accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state of masterminding series of attacks against his party.

A source in the community said at about 6:30am on Monday, a group of youths armed with axe and machetes, stormed the facility and started bringing it down.

The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Ealy Monday, some of our people were still sleeping when we started hearing shouts. 

“Reports came that they destroyed Senator Magnus Abe’s secretariat. We went there and saw that it was true. The whole building was destroyed.”

While confirming the incident, Senator Abe in a statement said the attack, like previous ones and threats to life and property, would not deter him from going ahead with his campaigns.

Abe in a statements by his spokesman, Parry Benson, on Monday afternoon, said Abe was determined to achieve his quest to become the state governor come 2023.

The statement partly read, “The SDP secretariat in Nonwa Tai, Tai LGA, due for inauguration today – Monday, December 26,  2022, was destroyed in the early hours of today by suspected political thugs.”

Abe therefore called on the state Commissioner of Police and other security agencies to investigate the incident, and bring an end to escalating violence in the state.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, promised to find out from the police division in the area and get back to our correspondent.

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police had yet to reach out to our correspondent as of the time of filing this report, Monday evening.

Two months ago, suspected political thugs also attacked a meeting venue of the SDP, and touched the facility in Oyigbo LGA.

After achieving that, the armed youths proceeded to stop Senator Abe and his supporters from gaining entrance into the area.