Shot senator flown to UK

Doctors were battling all yesterday to save Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, who was shot at a rally in Port Harcourt,the Rivers State capital. He was flown to London, United Kingdom, last night after the doctors stabilised him.

The rally by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM), a non-governmental organisation with affiliation to Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and the All Progressives Congress (APC), was smashed by policemen, who stormed the venue in Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and vans. The college of Arts and Science, Rumuola, was turned into a scene of madness.

The police shot tear gas canisters at SRM supporters.

Abe, 49, was shot twice by policemen with rubber bullets in his chest and leg, on the orders of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, leading to internal bleeding. A baby and a man were feared dead in the confusion.

The shots knocked Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), off his feet. He was in severe shock.

Worshippers in churches in the neighbourhood and residents battled to breathe as the teargas assaulted their nostrils. Sounds of gunshots filled the air.

The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, was injured. Abe was rushed to Krisany Medical Services, a private hospital in Port Harcourt, where he was stabilized before being flown to Britain for treatment.