Four persons who were previously arraigned for their alleged involvement in suspected arson on the Rivers State House of Assembly in October 2023, have alleged that they were pressured to alter their original statements to implicate Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.
The four persons, Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini, were in November 2024, acquitted of the charges after about six months in Kuje Correctional Facility in Abuja.
One of them, Ezebalike, told journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday that they were recently contacted by a prominent PDP leader in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the State to change their narrative.
He stated that the request was linked to a wider political scheme in Rivers State, allegedly aimed at corroborating claims made in a press briefing by the former Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, in Abuja.
Ezebalike said: “We were asked to rewrite our story and falsely name Edison Ehie as the mastermind of the Assembly fire. This is after everything we have been through. We cannot be part of any nefarious plot, especially not after the trauma we endured.”
They said the crime for which they were framed included the burning down of the State Assembly complex, the gruesome murder of SP Bako Angbashim, a DPO in the Ahaoda area of the State, and an alleged assassination attempt on the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule.
They narrated their harrowing six-month ordeal in the hands of security agents and political figures, beginning in December 2023.
They recounted being arrested under alleged dubious circumstances beginning with Oladele on December 5, 2023, Chime and MacPherson on December 16, and Kenneth on January 5—then allegedly blindfolded and detained at the Federal Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) facility in Port Harcourt.
They said there, they were allegedly tortured, denied legal access, and coerced to sign false confessions.
One particularly disturbing incident, they said, involved a serving member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who visited them with a uniformed officer and pressured them to implicate Ehie.
“When we refused, they turned to beatings and starvation,” they said.
They also accused a former Local Government Chairman of offering them bribes, including ₦200 million and overseas relocation for their cooperation.
In one case, they explained that a different detainee was allegedly promised his freedom if he identified Kenneth Kpasa as an arsonist.
After over six months in Kuje Correctional Facility, the matter was transferred to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt where in November 2024, all charges were dropped.
Now free, they said it was time to speak out, not just for themselves but for other innocent citizens who may be suffering in silence.
“This country belongs to us all. No one should be tortured or forced to lie for political convenience. We call on civil society, the media, and all justice-loving Nigerians to rise and resist the weaponization of state institutions against innocent citizens,” they stated.
