There was pandemonium on the nationwide headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Get together, PDP, in Abuja on Tuesday after police operatives deployed tear fuel to disperse clashing supporters of rival social gathering factions.
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Tensions erupted when two opposing teams — the Nyesom Wike-backed faction and the newly-constituted Nationwide Working Committee, NWC, led by Kabiru Turaki — scheduled separate conferences on the Wadata Plaza headquarters on the identical day.
The drama escalated shortly after Samuel Anyanwu, nationwide secretary of the Wike-aligned bloc, arrived on the premises with members of his faction for his or her deliberate Board of Trustees, BoT, and Nationwide Govt Committee, NEC, conferences.
As supporters exchanged heated phrases and scuffles broke out, cops struggled to keep up order.
At one level, operatives ordered everybody — together with social gathering officers — to evacuate the premises.
When the scenario worsened, officers fired teargas canisters, sending politicians, social gathering members, workers, and journalists scrambling for security. The sudden blast of teargas triggered a chaotic stampede, with a number of individuals seen coughing, shielding their faces, and fleeing towards adjoining streets.
Exterior the constructing, supporters from each camps brandished cudgels and varied objects as confrontations intensified.
Police reinforcements have been later deployed to revive calm across the secretariat, although pressure remained excessive as each factions traded accusations over the reason for the violence.
Under are extra photos from the scene:
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