Four individuals previously held in connection with the fire at the Rivers State House of Assembly have made new claims, alleging they are being coerced into changing their initial testimonies to implicate Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.
Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini, who were acquitted of the charges last November after approximately six months of detention in Kuje Correctional Facility, stated during a press briefing in Port Harcourt today, Monday, that they were recently contacted by a well-known PDP leader in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
This leader allegedly asked them to revise their account of events.
Three of the four individuals who were acquitted agreed to appear on camera during the press briefing.
They stated that this request to alter their statements is part of a larger political strategy, purportedly intended to support claims made by the former Head of Service, George Nwaeke, during a press briefing in Abuja.
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“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,” he said.
The four men stated that the crimes they were initially falsely accused of, and for which they are now being pressured to implicate Edison Ehie, include the fire at the Rivers State House of Assembly, the brutal murder of Bako Angbashim, a Divisional Police Officer in the Ahaoda area, and a supposed assassination attempt on the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule.
They recounted their distressing six-month experience at the hands of security operatives and political figures, starting in December 2023.
They described their arrests under allegedly suspicious circumstances: Oladele on December 5, 2023; Chime and MacPherson on December 16; and Kenneth on January 5. They were then allegedly blindfolded and held at the Federal Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) facility in Port Harcourt.
There, they claim they were subjected to torture, denied access to legal counsel, and forced to sign fabricated confessions.
They detailed a particularly concerning incident involving a current member of the Rivers State House of Assembly who, accompanied by a uniformed officer, visited them and pressured them to implicate Ehie.
“When we refused, they resorted to beatings and starvation,” they stated.
They also accused a former Local Government Chairman of offering them bribes, including ₦200 million and relocation abroad, in exchange for their cooperation.
These offers were reportedly repeated during their subsequent detention in Abuja, where some of them were forcibly transferred.
In one instance, they explained that another detainee was allegedly promised his release if he would identify Kenneth Kpasa as an arsonist.
After spending over six months in Kuje Correctional Facility, their case was transferred to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, where all charges were dismissed in November 2024.
Now free, they stated that they feel compelled to speak out, not only for themselves but also for other innocent individuals who may be suffering silently.
“This country belongs to us all. No one should be tortured or forced to lie for political gain. We urge civil society, the media, and all Nigerians who believe in justice to stand up and oppose the use of state institutions as weapons against innocent citizens.”
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