…orders suspects close to the victim to report
The police command in Rivers State has reacted to the shocking news and video evidence of attack on one of the 23 sole administrators appointed by Ibon-ete Ibas, the Rivers State Sole Administrator. Pressure began mounting on the police to speak up on a viral video showing where a man believed to be a LGA boss was being beaten with cane and knife to sign a document.
Some said the silence of the state Sole Administrator as well as the Police Command was ominous.
The victim turned out to be as speculated, the Sole Administrator of Ahoada East LGA, Goodluck Iheanachor, who was seen in the video being tortured on the floor into signing an already drafted resignation letter. The letter was later released to the public by known persons. The police later said the people beating the boss was his aides with over 30 others.
Now, the Rivers State police command headed by Olugbenga A. Adepoju has declared the action as ‘conspiracy, violent attack, assault occasioning harm, and stealing’. He called it a condemnable act.
In a statement signed by Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police who is the Police Public Relations (PPRO) of the command, the command said it was aware and deeply disturbed by the heinous attack on the Sole Administrator of Ahoada-East LGA, and the council secretary, on June 20, 2025, at about 1.30pm.
Read also: Tension in Rivers as local council sole administrator resigns
The police however described the attackers as ‘group of hoodlums numbering about 30’, despite saying they were led by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the sole administrator, saying they stormed the Council Secretariat and attack him. Many wonder if top ranking officers of a local government council were still hoodlums in the eyes of the police.
The police said during the attack, the hoodlums assaulted the Sole Administrator, stole his mobile phones, forced him to sign a letter purporting his resignation, carted away vital documents including official and personal documents from his office.
“The Administrator is currently undergoing medical treatment due to the injuries sustained during the violent attack. He is in stable condition”, the police added.
The Rivers State Police Command said it unequivocally condemned this reprehensible act and has thus taken swift action.
The statement said the CP has visited the scene of the attack with heads of other sister security agency in the state, and has directed the Chief Security Officer (CSO), Chief of Staff (COS), and all those allegedly involved in the action to report to the Police State Headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt for questioning. The statement did not indicate the deadline for self-surrender.
The CP further noted that the Command was resolute in its pursuit of justice and warned that failure to comply with the invitation would attract severe consequences.
“The Commissioner of Police reiterates the Command’s unwavering commitment to ensuring public peace and safety, while urging citizens of the State to remain calm, law-abiding and cooperate with the authorities to maintain peace and order across the State.”
Social media sources quoted the Chief of Staff to say he was being falsely named in the attack. Hints indicate that the LGA boss was being accused by his attackers of not carrying others along, something understood in the state as sharing funds to those that influenced his appointment and their followers. In Rivers State, they call it ‘servicing the structure’. Many believe that the attack must have high-level endorsement for it to have occurred in the first place, plus the deafening silence that has followed the incident since the past 48 hours.
Ahoada, zone of cult kings in the state, is the place where a very famous cracking police officer who was sent as Divisional Police Officer there to carry the fight to top gang leaders was captured, butchered, and buried.
