Day 7: Rivers protesters in disarray due to financial inducement – Natl coordinator, Civil Rights Council
The proposed 10-day stretched hunger protest in Rivers state was disorganized on Wednesday following alleged financial inducement by undisclosed politicians in an effort to curtail what has now turned to a volatile action.
In the early hour of Wednesday at Education Bus Stop, mile one in Port Harcourt, some persons alleged to be agents of influential politicians were seen sharing money to the protesters and admonishing them not to be scared of “anything”.
It was learned that some politicians with vested interest in the welfare of Rivers state want to see an end to the ongoing social unrest, hence, the decision to opt for financial inducement of some of the leading faces in the protest.
An eye-witness disclosed that the arrival of a team of armed police men caused the protesters to scamper thereby disrupting the money sharing process at Nnewi and Udi streets in the popular Diobu area of Port Harcourt.
Speaking in a telephone interview, the national coordinator of Civil Rights Council, CRC, Barrister Paul Ogbonna Arochukwu said he heard about the financial inducement on the first day of the protest.
“I heard there was some financial inducement that cut across civil society group, Religious groups among others. I heard that some of them were paid N200,000. I also heard that the financial inducement has also split the protesters into several groups”, he said.
A leader of another group, Chimene Kinika, also confirmed that there were “stories flying about of some people collecting money just to frustrate this protest. We have been assembling here (Federal Secretariat), suddenly, somebody came and told us that we should wait for buses that will convey us to somewhere.
“I don’t understand. Are we here for a picnic? We have been having one voice, one sound from the first day of this protest. Why should some people want to frustrate what we have been doing peacefully? If life is good for some people, some of us are not comfortable”, Kinika said.
