At least one person was reportedly killed on Monday by a security operative at the Nkpolu axis of the East West Road during a protest by indigenes of the community.
The indigenes were protesting against the bad state of the road caused by persistent flooding.
Four people were also reported injured during the fracas.
Some properties, including a building and petrol tankers were destroyed by angry youths in the area in reaction to the death of one of them.
The Rivers State Police Command said 15 persons have been arrested following the violent protest.
Spokesman of the Command, Nnamdi Omoni in an interview with DAILY POST, however, said report of the death of one of the protesters was yet to be ascertained.
Omoni said preliminary investigation from the scene of the Protest indicated that the protesters violently attacked some security agents who were enroute Bayelsa State.
The Police Spokesman further noted that normalcy has been restored to the scene with deployment of an Area Commander and a detachment of personnel.
However, Chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government area, Solomon Eke has denied that his security details pulled the triggered on the protester who died at Nkpolu community.
Eke in a telephone interview put the blame on security agencies especially the Nigerian Army whom he claimed, “were shooting at the youths”.
He expressed displeasure over what played out during the protest, adding that he only went to the scene of the protest to play his role as the Chief Security Officer of the Local government.
But spokesman of 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, dismissed the claim that anybody was killed by soldiers.
According to Iliyasu, “It is cheap blackmail to say that soldiers killed anybody. They smashed the windscreens of our vehicles, including that of the escort. The mob threw stones and other objects at them.
“For them to extricate themselves and because of the blockade, the Soldiers had to turn back to base. In this era of social media, if somebody was killed, you would have seen it all over the social media.”
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