Is there a fresh plot to frame the suspended governor of Rivers State and his chief of staff with the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly?
Four men who were arrested and taken to Abuja and released at the moment the auditorium was burnt in 2023 have stepped out to say there is fresh plot to rearrest them.
Worse, they say there is pressure on them to mention Gov Fubara and his chief of staff, Edison Ehie.
Now, in what looks like a shocking new development, the four individuals have come forward with explosive allegations.
The individuals claim that they were illegally detained and subjected to torture during their time in custody.
They also revealed a fresh plot to falsely implicate Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to the suspended Rivers State Government, in the infamous fire of October 2023.
Read also: Fubara denies allegations of political crisis, blasts ex-head of service
The individuals – Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini, came forward, at a press briefing which held on Monday, April 7, 2025 in Port Harcourt, narrating that a few days ago, one of them was called by a man (name withheld) he said is a PDP leader in Obio/Akpor, and asked to come and meet with one of their leaders.
“Upon further prodding he said they were reaching out to us to persuade us to re-write our story in order to implicate 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,” they said.
This they said has prompted them to speak out, as they do not want to be part of any nefarious act especially after the torture they had previously faced, and endured in the hands of alleged security agencies and suspected political actors during their detention in connection with the Assembly complex inferno.
Detailing their ordeal, Chime Ezebalike said between December 5, 2023 and January 16, 2024, they were individually and collectively subjected to arrest, intimidation, physical assault, and psychological torture.
They claim their offence was because they refused to frame individuals like the Chief of Staff to the suspended Rivers State Government as masterminds of the Rivers State House of Assembly inferno.
At the press briefing, Ezebalike allege that at some point, they were offered bribes in exchange for their freedom, even though it was clear they had committed no offence that warranted their arrest and detention.
“Three of us, Chime, Kenneth, and Oladele are known associates of Edison and Sokari Goodboy, while MacPherson was an unfortunate victim of mere proximity,” Ezebalike revealed.
Speaking further, Ezebalike explained that: “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. It was later revealed that this was a ruse intended to force us into implicating Ehie in three serious allegations – the murder of Bako Angbashim, an assassination attempt on Martins Amaewhule, and the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.”
The individuals claim that during their detention, some named persons one of them a former Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area and another a suspended Rivers State House of Assembly member, played significant roles in the bribe offer, which allegedly included a sum of ₦200 million and promises of a trip to Ghana for them and their families.
“In a particularly distressing moment, the member of the Rivers State House of Assembly and an ally of a powerful minister arrived in the company of a uniformed officer and personally pressured us to implicate the Chief of Staff. When we resisted and refused, they resorted to beatings, starvation, and psychological torture.
“Days later, both the House of Assembly member and the former LGA boss returned. We were offered money, alongside promises of a fully paid trip to Ghana or any country of our choice with our families, in exchange for implicating Edison Ehie. We rejected it all,” Ezebalike narrated.
The said they were later forcibly transferred to Abuja by road, where they continued to face harsh conditions. Despite enduring months of torture, they said they maintained their innocence throughout. The charges against them were eventually dropped in November 2024, but they said the ordeal has left deep scars.
The detainees are calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged abuses and coercion, urging civil society organizations, the media and justice-loving Nigerians to stand with them, and help expose the broader political machinations at play. They are also demanding accountability from those responsible for their unlawful detention and torture.
“This country is bigger than any one of us and all of us deserve to live in a country where no one is oppressed,” they stressed.
No security agency now any of the political actors mentioned has reacted yet.
Observers say this latest twist in the Rivers Assembly burning saga highlights the growing concerns over political interference in security operations and the potential risks it poses to governance and rule of law in the region.
