Rivers Assembly arson: Suspects allege pressure to falsely implicate Fubara’s Chief of Staff
By Jeffrey Agbo
Four individuals arrested in connection with the 2023 fire that gutted the Rivers State House of Assembly complex have alleged that they are being coerced into falsely implicating Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, as the mastermind behind the incident.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, one of the suspects, Chime Ezebalike, addressed the media on behalf of the group, which also includes Kenneth Kpasa, MacPherson Olumini, and Oladele Lukman.
Ezebalike claimed that a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently reached out to one of them, offering money in exchange for a false confession against Ehie.
“We address you today as citizens and residents of Rivers state who feel a need to set records straight in the light of the happenings in our state and who became victims due to no fault of ours,” Ezebalike stated.
“Even after our ordeal and when we thought we could return to normal life, only a few days ago, one of us was called by a PDP leader in Obio/Akpor to come and meet with one of their leaders.
“Upon further prodding he said they were reaching out to us to persuade us to rewrite our story in order to implicate Rt Hon Edison Ehie as the sponsor or mastermind of the fire incident at the assembly complex as a follow-up to former head of service, George Nwaeke’s press briefing in Abuja.”
He added, “This has prompted us to speak out, as we do not want to be part of any nefarious act especially after the torture we faced.”
Ezebalike detailed the timeline of their arrest, saying they were apprehended on different dates in December 2023 and eventually released in January 2024. According to him, they were offered bribes in exchange for false statements during their detention.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
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He narrated how Lukman was arrested on December 5, followed by the apprehension of Chime and MacPherson on December 16 at Ogbakiri Junction, while returning from a funeral in Ahoada. On January 5, 2024, Kenneth was reportedly taken by force in Port Harcourt’s GRA area by a convoy of 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.
“It was later revealed that this was a ruse intended to force us into implicating Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie in three serious allegations of the murder of Supol Bako Angbashim, an assassination attempt on Hon. Martins Amaewhule, and the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex,” he said.
The Rivers State House of Assembly was partially destroyed by fire in October 2023, amid a political crisis in the state. The incident occurred as lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, reportedly moved to impeach Governor Fubara.
The rift between Fubara and Wike has deeply divided the state assembly and triggered a broader political standoff. In response to the escalating situation, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18. Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the assembly were suspended for six months. Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas was appointed as the state’s sole administrator.
In a recent development, former Rivers Head of Service George Nwaeke claimed during a press briefing that Governor Fubara ordered Edison Ehie to orchestrate the assembly arson. According to Nwaeke, he witnessed a bag of money being handed to Ehie for the operation, though he admitted he did not know the amount inside.
