Hours after the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, withdrew policemen deployed to Local Government Secretariats, thugs have attacked no fewer than three council headquarters, setting ablaze structures inside the premises.
Of the three councils, two, Ikwerre and Eleme were set ablaze before the newly elected council chairmen resumed office, while the third at Emohua council secretariat was attacked after the council chairmen resumed office to take over the leadership of the council minutes after policemen manning the secretariat were withdrawn by the inspector general of police.
The council secretariats were reported to have been attacked by hoodlums on Monday barely 24 hours after the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara swear-in the newly elected chairmen.
The new development has altered the swearing-in of the vice chairman and appointment of all political aides for the councils that have been under lock for more than five months following the political crisis between Fubara, and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the attacks on the councils were done by hoodlums who stormed the council Secretariat in protest against the governor’s decision to conduct council election after the court had restricted all parties from holding the exercise in the state.
It was learnt that the attacks on the councils resulted in the destruction of property worth millions of Naira in the state.
The destruction, sources said, will affect kick-off of administrative operations within the council after several weeks of closure.