The ward and local government congresses of the Peoples Democratic Party started on a shaky note in Delta State on Thursday as members of the congress monitoring committee deployed in the state by the national headquarters of the party were held hostage in Asaba, the state capital.
Aggrieved members of the party in the state held the team, led by Mrs. Anne Onuoha, hostage at the party�s secretariat for many hours before the intervention of the Minister for Special Duties, Chief Godsday Orubebe, and security agencies.
The wife of the outgoing national chairman of the party, Dr. Mariam Ali, was also among the hostages.
It was gathered that the protests by the party�s stalwarts stemmed from the report of non- availability of materials for the voting exercise.
The exercise was marred by confusion and crisis, a development which apparently compelled the leadership of the party in the state to suspend it.
The protesters accused Ali�s wife and the Onuoha led-congress monitoring team of manipulating the process.
The Acting Commissioner of Police, State Command, Mr. Jacob Oshiomogho, and Director of the State Security Service, however, prevented the situation from degenerating as they joined forces with Orubebe to rescue Ali and members of the monitoring team from the aggrieved party members.
The state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, later invited the various parties to the Government House where he appealed for calm.
The press conference called by the outgoing Chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Ogidi, to announce the suspension of the congresses was almost stalled as the aggrieved party chieftains and members of the team from Abuja engaged in war of words.
Ogidi later announced the suspension of the exercise as normalcy returned.
He said, �PDP in Delta State is not having its ward congress because the monitoring committee did not bring the materials. We have it on good authority that the said electoral materials are in the possession of the national chairman in his private residence.
�We hereby reject the monitoring team and call for its recall and the re-composition of another monitoring team by the national electoral committee.�
In a related development, there were skirmishes on Thursday in some parts of Edo State as the two rival factions of the PDP in the state held parallel congresses to elect ward officers.
At one of the venues in Iguobazuwa, Ovia South West Local Government Area, a woman was knocked down by a vehicle when armed thugs allegedly hired by one of the factions clashed with supporters of the other faction.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Christopher Adesotu, accused a serving commissioner of leading thugs to cause mayhem in the area.