By Daniel Abia – Port Harcourt
Three individuals recently acquitted of charges related to the October 2023 fire at the Rivers State House of Assembly have publicly alleged attempts to coerce them into falsely implicating Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
At a press conference held Monday in Port Harcourt, Chime Ezebalike, speaking on behalf of the group, claimed they were contacted by political figures who urged them to alter their original statements to name Ehie as the mastermind behind the Assembly fire.
The suspects, who were arrested between December 2023 and January 2024 and later discharged by a Federal High Court in November 2024, alleged that pressure to revise their testimonies began while they were in detention. Ezebalike said the move was part of a broader political agenda aimed at supporting previous claims made at a separate press conference in Abuja.
“We were asked to rewrite our story and falsely name Edison Ehie as the mastermind of the Assembly fire,” Ezebalike stated. “We cannot be part of any plot, especially after the trauma we endured.”
The group also alleged that attempts were made to link them to other incidents, including the tragic killing of Bako Angbashim, a police officer in Ahoada, and an alleged attempt on the life of Assembly Speaker Martins Amaewhule.
According to their account, they were arrested under unclear circumstances and detained at the Federal Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) facility in Port Harcourt. They claimed they were blindfolded, denied legal representation, and subjected to coercive interrogation tactics.
Ezebalike alleged that during their detention, a serving member of the Rivers State Assembly, accompanied by a security officer, visited them and pressured them to implicate Ehie. “When we refused, we were subjected to beatings and starvation,” he said.
The suspects also claimed they were offered financial incentives and the promise of relocation abroad in exchange for cooperation. These inducements, they said, were repeated during their subsequent detention in Abuja.
They further alleged that another detainee was offered release if he agreed to falsely identify one of them, Kenneth Kpasa, as an arsonist.
After over six months in detention, their case was transferred to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, where all charges were struck out.
Now released, the individuals say they are speaking out in hopes of drawing attention to what they describe as the misuse of state institutions for political ends.
“This country belongs to us all. No one should be tortured or forced to lie for political convenience,” Ezebalike concluded. “We call on civil society, the media, and all justice-loving Nigerians to resist the weaponization of security agencies against innocent citizens.”
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