Four suspects arrested in connection with
the October 2023 fire that gutted the Rivers State House of Assembly complex
have alleged attempts by political actors to coerce them into falsely
implicating Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff to suspended Governor
Siminalayi Fubara.
At a press conference in Port Harcourt on Monday,
Chime Ezebalike, who spoke on behalf of the group—including Kenneth Kpasa,
MacPherson Olumini, and Oladele Lukman—claimed that they were recently
approached by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and offered
monetary rewards to testify that Ehie masterminded the arson attack.
“We Were Asked to Rewrite Our Story”
“Only a few days ago, one of us was contacted by a PDP leader in Obio/Akpor,
inviting us to meet with party leaders,” Ezebalike stated.
“Upon further inquiry, he revealed they wanted us to
implicate Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie as the sponsor of the fire at the assembly
complex, in line with former Head of Service George Nwaeke’s press briefing in
Abuja.”
The suspects said they decided to speak out to protect
their integrity and reject any involvement in what they described as a
“nefarious political plot,” especially after enduring unlawful detention and
torture.
Timeline of Arrest and Detention
Ezebalike narrated the sequence of their arrests:
December 5, 2023: Oladele Lukman was arrested.
December 16, 2023: Ezebalike and Olumini were picked
up near Ogbakiri Junction on the East-West Road while returning from a funeral.
January 5, 2024: Kenneth Kpasa was apprehended in GRA,
Port Harcourt, by a convoy of three Hilux vans.
The group said they were detained blindfolded at the
Federal Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) facility in Port Harcourt and
accused of various crimes, including:
The murder of SP Bako Angbashim, a police officer
killed in Rivers in 2023.
An assassination attempt on Assembly Speaker Martins
Amaewhule.
The arson attack on the state assembly complex.
“It was later revealed that the stolen vehicle claim
used to arrest us was a pretense to extract false confessions against Rt. Hon.
Edison Ehie,” Ezebalike said.
Background: The Political Crisis in Rivers
In October 2023, a section of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex was
engulfed by fire during a period of intense political conflict. Lawmakers loyal
to former governor and current FCT Minister Nyesom Wike were reportedly
preparing to impeach Governor Fubara.
The political feud between Fubara and Wike plunged the
state into a constitutional crisis. On March 18, 2025, President Bola Tinubu
declared a state of emergency in Rivers, suspending the governor, his deputy
Ngozi Odu, and the entire House of Assembly for six months. Retired Vice
Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas was appointed sole administrator.
In March, former Rivers Head of Service George Nwaeke
alleged in a press briefing that Governor Fubara ordered the burning of the
assembly and that a bag of money was handed to Edison Ehie to carry out the
operation. Nwaeke admitted, however, that he did not know the contents of the
bag.
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