The sitting of the Rivers State House of Assembly was disrupted on Tuesday morning when hoodlums and some members attacked the principal officers of the house, with an assortment of weapons.
The house which adjourned sine die for some weeks now, in the wake of the political crisis between Governor Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan's pointsmen in the state, re-opened this morning at about 9.45 a.m.
Proceedings have barely started when some members, said to belong to the G5 minority group, arrived with some hoodlums and started beating up the majority leader of the house, Chidi Lloyd with sticks, microphone and camera stands and any object that could serve as cudgels.
The Speaker of the house, Otelemaba Amachree was similarly attacked and the mace broken.
The Speaker said, "We had begun sitting when Honourable Evans Bapakaye Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo constituency came into the house with thugs and started raining blows on the majority leader of the House. And he also came to attack me. He was later joined by Hon. Michael Ogochukwu Chinda from Obio/Akpor 2 constituency. They used all manners of weapons to attack us. As I am talking to you now, the majority leader, Chidi Llyod is drenched in blood".
Asked whether the police were not at the assembly when the mayhem was going on, Mr Amachree said they were there but refrained from intervening.
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