Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has raised the alarm over the arrest and detention of members of the party in the state.
He accused a unit within the Rivers State Police Command, known as ‘RTI’ led by one Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Emeka Egbo, of being responsible for the arrests.
Abe, who spoke yesterday while addressing a media conference in Port Harcourt, said a lot of SDP members in the state were on the run to avoid being arrested by the team.
He said: “Today as we speak, the Social Democratic Party in Rivers State is being threatened, harassed and every effort is being made to intimidate our members and prevent the SDP from campaigning freely and also prevent our people from coming out to vote.
“As we speak, several members of our party have been arrested on trumped-up charges by security agencies, particularly the Police and most particularly, one Police section, called the RTI, that is led by one commander, Chief Superintendent of Police Emeka Egbo.
“He has turned himself into the armed wing of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party to harass and intimidate members of the SDP in this state.
“There is a clear plan afoot targeting members of our campaign, trailing members of our campaign, intimidating them, harassing them. Mr Kamala Amakiri, the chairman of our mobilisation committee has had more than three visits to his house by Policemen from that division.”