Senator John Owan Enoh was declaring to run for Governor of Cross River State, when unknown persons fired teargas fumes right into his eyes.
At about 3pm of Wednesday, September 5, 2018, Senator John Owan Enoh (APC, Cross River Central) got up from his seat at a campaign rally inside the Federal Government College, Ikom, and made for the podium in front of him.
He was surrounded by his aides and a sprinkling of party faithful.
All around him, cheers broke out and the senator was raising up a fist to acknowledge chants of adulation coming his way.
Senator Enoh was about to formally declare that he will be running for the office of Governor of Cross River State in the 2019 general elections. And about 10,000 people had converged here to hear him say just that.
Just as he got on the stage to grab the microphone from the compere, pandemonium engulfed the rally and everyone was coughing and sneezing seriously through blood shot eyes. Teargas canisters had been fired into the crowd and right in the senator’s face. The senator was on his haunches—but only briefly.
'Teargas can't stop us'
Misty and red eyed, Senator Enoh got hold of the microphone with his audience dispersing and thinning out before him. He knew he had to do something. “Even the mischievous train of teargas cannot stop us. Can it stop you? When the people have a will, nothing can stop them”, he bellowed into the microphone.
It was what the crowd needed to emerge from the surrounding bushes and classrooms to make a return to the wet and muddy rally ground. The heavens had opened on the rally in the form of heavy rainfall, much earlier.
“Even the rainfall cannot stop us”, the senator was hollering. “When the people have a will, nothing can stop them. I stand before you Cross Riverians, my friends from outside Cross River. I stand before you, taking a step of faith. In 2019, APC is going to take over government house in Calabar. I am asking for your support.
“Misrule and mis-governance affects every part of Cross River. I am the right man for the job. I offer and present myself as the next Governor of Cross River. Are you going to support me?” Enoh thundered as the teargas fumes dispersed into the wet Cross River atmosphere.
“Yesssssssssss”, the crowd responded.
“The teargas was planted by the PDP government in the State. It just shows how desperate the government is and it just shows how threatened they are about my aspiration for the governorship”, the senator told Pulse afterwards in an exclusive chat.
Security reports said there was going to be a disruption
Enoh told Pulse that he had an idea things were going to go wrong at his declaration, at some point.
“At some point, I got some calls from close friends of mine intimating me about certain possibilities. They said they were going to use security people to try to cause a disruption. The build-up to this has been quite challenging for the government.
“They are about eight or so aspirants in the APC. I think the State government appears to be comfortable with all of them apart from me. I beat them to their plans by deciding to move my declaration to Ikom. Once they knew that the venue was in Ikom, they felt very disappointed", he said.
A spokesperson of the Cross River Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, wasn’t immediately available for comments for this story.
Surviving teargas fumes
Pulse asked Senator Enoh how he dealt with the teargas fumes thrown in his face. “Some guy immediately ran to me with some water and I soaked my handkerchief in the water and that was it. The fellows who did it, did it and ran”, he said.
“The teargas was their last ditch effort to see if they could frustrate the event. They planned the teargas to coincide with when I got up from my seat to formally do my declaration and at that point everybody’s attention was on me.
“But when you see a crowd that is not rented, that is excited about the candidate, nothing is able to stop them. The teargas had no effect eventually. It was the grace of God that saved the day.
“I got reports later that our guys chased one or two persons. The people who did this were part of the crowd”.
John Enoh who has chaired the finance committees in the House of Representatives and Senate, is perhaps the biggest hurdle incumbent Governor Ayade has to surmount to nick a second term in office.