The Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter, Allwell Ihunda, escaped death narrowly as protesting youths chased him along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Tuesday.
Ihunda, who is the outgoing Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, was on his way to the council secretariat with some aides and security details when the incident occurred.
GTN gathered that he had alighted from his vehicle and tried to make his way into the council but met a group of youths who occupied the entrance. Almost immediately, the youths started shouting, chasing him, the youths tried to get hold of Ihunda, who raced towards his car.
However, the security details attached to the Mayor, as he is fondly called, resisted the youths from getting hold of their principal, shooting into the air to disperse them. Ihunda jumped into a black SUV vehicle, escorted by aides and zoomed off while the youths continued shooting into the air.
Two other vehicles, including a white van believed to be that of aides of the outgoing chairman, were spotted going after him, while the youths rained abuses at him.
Some of the youth were heard shouting, “That is him, Allwell. Chase him. Who is he? Look at him, Mayor is running. Chase him. Are you mad? God punish you! “Don’t run, come, you will see pressure. We are not afraid of you. You are mad. Thunder will fire you.”But some of his security details were seen trying to calm the youths who refused to listen to them, saying, ” Why is he running?”
Recall that the state ALGON had vowed not to vacate office after the expiration of their tenure on June 17. The LG chairmen, who were elected under the administration of Nyesom Wike as governor, had cited the local government amendment law made by the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly. The law extends the tenure of the council chairmen by six months due to the failure of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to conduct local government elections.
The Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT minister have been having a running battle with Fubara, due to the disagreement between him and his predecessor.
Fubara survived an attempt to impeach him last year, which worsened the political crisis in the state. Fubara, in a state-wide broadcast on Tuesday, directed the heads of local government administration to take charge of council affairs from Wednesday, June 19, pending further directives.
