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April 1, 2023
The policemen, suspected to be acting on the orders of Governor Nyesom Wike, arrested the lawyers at their hotel on Friday night.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has called for the unconditional release of three lawyers arrested in Port Harcourt by operatives of the Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the legal practitioners namely - Jerry Aondo, Dr Sobere Nelson and Odum Eyiba, who were legal team of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in March 18 governorship poll, Tonye Cole were in the state to file election petition before the police operatives swooped on them.
The policemen, suspected to be acting on the orders of Governor Nyesom Wike, arrested the lawyers at their hotel on Friday night.
The police have yet to give reason for the arrest of the lawyers who are attached to the Tuduru Ede’s Chamber, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
According to sources, the legal practitioners are currently held at NPF Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Ogunabali by Market Square.
Reacting to the development, Falana in statement condemned the arrest of the lawyers, adding the police were planning to arraign them before a Magistrate Court on Monday, April 3, on charge bordering forgery of electoral materials.
The legal luminary stated, "I have just confirmed that the police will drag the detained lawyers to a Magistrate Court on Monday, April 3, and charge them with the forgery of electoral materials.
"The primary purpose of the latest display of naked power is to frustrate the opposition from filing an election petition against the rigging and violence that marred the March 18 governorship election in Rivers State.
"Since there is no legal justification for the arrest and detention of the lawyers, we are compelled to call on the Inspector-General of Police to order their immediate release.
"The Rivers State Commissioner of Police should publicly apologise to the lawyers.
"Those who claim to have won the governorship election in Rivers State must be prepared to defend their mandate without any intimidation or harassment of lawyers and witnesses."
The APC governorship candidate, Cole had on Friday, decried the refusal of the electoral umpire to obey the court order directing it to release to the party the Certified True Copies of documents used in the governorship elections.
Cole who spoke his frustration when he led members of the party to INEC State headquarters, described the action as suspicious.
The party members alleged that INEC was deliberately frustrating them from approaching the elections petitions tribunal to prove their case, as they have only 21 days to file their petitions.
But addressing journalists, Cole said, “I am not happy at all. We have come to INEC to express our deep frustration about what is going on. Essentially, we are time-bound. We have 21 days from the time the elections were declared to file our petitions.”
He said for the House of Assembly candidates who want to challenge the election, two weeks had gone and that INEC was yet to make the materials available.
He added, “They have not released one single CTC document and we have to prepare a brief and prepare for the tribunal.”
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters efforts to reach the spokesperson of the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko were unsuccessful as she could not pick her calls as the phone rang out.