By Davies Iheamnachor
Three men were arrested after Rivers State House of Assembly was burned down by unknown arsonists have alleged that their lives have remained under threat after they were discharged and acquitted by a court.
The discharged persons, Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Prince Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini, who spoke in Port Harcourt, alleged that those against the suspended Governor Siminialayi Fubara and Edison Ehie, his Chief of Staff, were the ones behind the threat.
Speaking, Ezebalike, on behalf of others, said the decided to talk to journalists in order to clarify issues on the burning of the Rivers State Assembly.
Ezebalike noted that they were offered N200 million to implicate Edison in the matter.
Torture
Ezebalike stated that they were tortured by police because they refused to implicate Edison or any other person that is linked to the governor in the arson.
He narrated: “Our offence was because we refused to frame individuals, including the Chief of Staff to the Rivers State Government, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, as masterminds behind the Rivers State House of Assembly inferno.
Starting from December 2023 we: Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Prince Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini were individually and collectively subjected to arrest, intimidation, physical assault, psychological torture.
“All of this happened between December 5, 2023, and January 16, 2024. At some point, we were offered bribes in exchange for our freedom even though it was clear that we had committed no offence that warranted our being arrested and detained.
“Three of us, Chime, Kenneth, and Oladele are known associates of Rt. Hon. Ehie Edison and Hon. Sokari Goodboy, while MacPherson was an unfortunate victim of mere proximity. Our ordeal began with the arbitrary arrest of Oladele Lukman on December 5, 2023.
On December 16, Chime and MacPherson were violently apprehended at Ogbakiri Junction along the East-West Road while returning from a funeral in Ahoada.
“On January 5, 2024, Kenneth Kpasa was forcefully taken in GRA, Port Harcourt, by a convoy of no fewer than three Hilux vans. We were blindfolded and taken to the Federal-Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) unit along the Eastern Bypass in Port Harcourt, under the false pretense that the vehicle we were travelling in was stolen.”
Ezebalike noted that they were accused of being behind the killing of the DPO of Ahoada Police Division, Bako Angbashim, adding that it was a ploy to coerce them into implicating the Fubara’s loyalist.
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