Asari Dokubo, a former leader of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), has been fingered in the shooting that led to the deaths of at least seven people in Abuloma Community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday.

A resident of the community told FIJ anonymously on Sunday that more than 500 boys from the Amama Group, led by Dokubo, stormed Abuloma during the Eastern Zone election of the IYC on Saturday.

She said that the boys, who were all draped in white, came prepared with machine guns and randomly shot at young men for at least six hours.

The source explained that Dokubo and Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had their favourite candidate while Sim Fubara, the governor of Rivers, and Tom Ateke, a traditional ruler and the first Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, favoured a different candidate.

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“The election was supposed to be held at Abuloma Town Hall, which is very close to my house, but the number of people who came was so large that they had to move it to the field,” she told FIJ.

“When they got there, they started pressuring the Opobo candidate, who was Sim and Ateke’s choice, to step down, but he refused and a clash occurred. It was a minor clash, more of a ‘push me, I push you’ situation, with people using their chests to bump into each other and fighting with bottles. That was what led to the clash on the field.

“When this happened, the Asari boys, who had come prepared for the election, went back to their buses. They had also brought four juju priests with them. They were armed with machetes and guns. The people who came to cause trouble outnumbered those who came to vote, and they brought everything out. They started shooting and people ran away. They were shooting on sight, especially if you were a young boy.”

She told FIJ that a bullet grazed her brother’s hand.

The same bullet, she said, killed one of her brother’s friends.

She said, “We found bullets on the floor, one of them hit my brother’s hand but unfortunately met his friend in the chest and killed him”.

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Another person who was a participant in the election told FIJ that it was initially postponed by Jonathan Lokpobiri, the president of the council, due to predictions of violence.

In this witness’ account, he said the election was progressing peacefully until the Amama Boys attacked. He said while he could not ascertain the number of casualties there were a lot of them.

“When the exercise started, the boys were not carrying guns, but they were in uniform. I was inside the hall, and no one could enter or leave. They came prepared, and when they were provoked, they simply went to their cars and brought out their machine guns,” he told FIJ on Sunday.

“I can’t ascertain the number of people who died, but many innocent people lost their lives in that election. Even some of Asari Dokubo’s boys, according to reports, it was massive; it was an invasion.

“All the security personnel present left the venue when the crisis started because the boys had more sophisticated weapons. It was a tragic day for the Ijaw people. What was meant to be a brotherly election went overboard and innocent lives were lost.

“It felt like we were in the creeks. I would never allow my child, or even my worst enemy, to experience what happened yesterday. The community people came to find out why there was a shooting, and they were caught in the crossfire too, people who were just going about their business.

“Before he came, Asari Dokubo was live on Facebook, giving his boys water to drink. He threatened the national president, saying that whoever died would be on his head. He made a live threat, in a live video before coming, and he executed it.”

FIJ also found some social media posts blaming Dokubo for causing the deaths in the Rivers community.

Olaudah Equiano posted, “This is Port Harcourt City today in lawless Nigeria. Asari Dokubo boys and rival groups testing their strength. This is the same Asari that is received in the Villa…”

Wisdom wrote, “Asari Dokubo, thank you for showing your true colour to the people of Okrika today in Abuloma Community. You sent your boys for war and not for the IYC movement. You have yet shown how much hatred you have for the people of Okirika”.

“So, IYC were having an election today and Asari Dokubo sent his boys to come and disrupt the peaceful election, they started shooting at people, happening in Port Harcourt right now. I’m there, I’m shaking as I type,” Tessiegold shared on Saturday.