The youths were at the Government House to protest the endorsement of Dakuku Peterside, member representing Andoni/Opopo federal constituency in the House of Representatives as Rivers State consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections.
Rivers State chapter of the APC, Wednesday endorsed Peterside as its consensus candidate for the 2015 governorship election.
Our correspondent reports that the protests also erupted in different parts of Rivers State as thousands of Ogoni youths took to major streets to register their displeasure over the development.
The youths blocked major junctions of the East-West road at Eleme, Akpajo and Tai.
They said Governor Chibuike Rotomi Amaechi betrayed the Ogonis by dumping Magnus Abe, who represents Rivers South- East at the Senate.
The youths set up burn fires with used tyres, just as they destroyed cars at the parking lot in front of Government House.
Daily Trust gathered that police operatives shot into the air and fired several canisters of tear gas to disperse the youths.
Public Relations Officer of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) Legborsi Esaen, who spoke to journalists, said: “Governor Amaechi has thoroughly betrayed the Ogoni’s. He has shown how much he loves Ogoni people. We have resolved to support any party that picks an Ogoni indigene as its governorship candidate. We are no longer prepared to play second fiddle in the politics of Rivers State. Its either governorship or nothing.”
When contacted, Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammed, said no shot was fired by the police and that nobody was injured during the protest.
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