Amaechi Okonkwo – Port Harcourt
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Saturday afternoon confirmed the arrest of eight members of its legal team who were in Port Harcourt preparatory to the beginning of its petition at the election tribunal in Rivers State on Monday, April 3, 2023.
According to Darlington Nwauju, Publicity Secretary of the party, those arrested include Five lawyers and three support staff and they are being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID.
The name of three lawyers among the arrested are; Jerry Aondo, Esq (Abuja), Dr. Sobere Nelson and Odum Eyiba, Esq
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the eight persons were first taken to NPF Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Ogunabali and later transferred to State CID.
Items seized from them include laptops, exhibits required for their petition defence, such as agent’s copy of form EC8 m, CTC of INEC documents.
Nwauju had earlier in a press statement issued in the state raised the alarm on plots by the police to arrest some of its members.
He had said in the statement; “the All Progressives Congress party in Rivers State has intercepted very credible intelligence of plots by Police authorities in Rivers State, principally coordinated by a few tactical teams under the command (e.g. C4i unit, etc), to begin a manhunt for members of the APC in Rivers State, especially our House of Assembly candidates who are determined to reclaim their mandates through Constitutional means in order to frustrate the push to reclaim these stolen mandates at the Election Petitions Tribunal (EPT).
“This latest strategy is, to say the least, emblematic of the serial illegality, conspiracy, intimidation and harassment that the opposition political parties have had to face and have continued to face under the despotic reign of the outgoing Government.
“We wish to warn Police authorities in Rivers State to stop the open display of partisanship which was brought to the fore on the 25th February and 18th March 2023, when the free will of Rivers people to voluntarily pick their representatives and Governor was scuttled by the INEC and the Nigerian Police Force.
“For the purposes of emphasis, no amount of threats, harassments or intimidations can deter Rivers APC from reclaiming all the mandates freely given to our party by Rivers people as we are already aware that the INEC in Rivers State is struggling to provide evidences of the elections it claimed to have “perfectly” conducted in Rivers State on the 25th February and March 18th 2023″.
The reaction of the authorities of the Rivers state police command was still being awaited at the time of filing this report.
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