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April 2, 2023
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) while reacting to the arrest of the three lawyers described it as an affront to democracy and an invitation to anarchy.
The Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has spoken about why and how three lawyers handling the All Progressives Congress (APC) election petition were arrested alongside five others in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
SaharaReporters had reported that the three legal practitioners namely Jerry Aondo, Dr Sobere Nelson and Odum Eyiba, who were part of the legal team of the governorship candidate of the APC in the March 18 governorship poll, Tonye Cole, were in the state to file an election petition before the police swooped in on them.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) while reacting to the arrest of the three lawyers described it as an affront to democracy and an invitation to anarchy.
Reacting to the development, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko in a statement released on Sunday said, on Friday at about 11.20 am, information was received that some lodgers occupying three rooms in a popular hotel in Port Harcourt were seen carrying packages in and out of the rooms and printing what seemed like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) materials (including results).
The police spokesperson said a video recording of the activities in one of the rooms was forwarded by the informant to the police commissioner but the information neither disclosed the identity of the lodgers nor whom they were working for.
“As a responsible law enforcement agency, the Police needed to act on the intelligence. Thus, on the basis of the report, the Police approached the court to obtain a search warrant.
“The warrant was dutifully executed on 1/4/23 at about 7.02 am. In the course of the search, eight (8) persons were arrested, and several documents, laptops and printers recovered. The arrested persons and exhibits were taken to the Surveillance Centre and later transferred to the State CID.
“An Assistant Commissioner of Police was tasked to lead the investigation team. It was in the process of profiling them that it was revealed that three (3) of the arrested persons were lawyers.
“The APC State Chairman and the party Gubernatorial candidate in the last election showed up at the station to inform the Police that the lawyers were actually hired by the party to prepare their papers for filing at the election tribunal.
“Subsequently, the NBA President and General Secretary called the Commissioner of Police, who assured them that the lawyers would be released when they had finished making their statements. Accordingly, the lawyers were promptly released on self-recognizance, while the other five (5) persons were released to a reliable surety.
“Meanwhile, since the investigating team lacked the technical competence to establish the veracity of the suspected printed fake INEC documents, the State REC was requested to send the Commission’s ICT personnel to inspect and identify the documents,” the statement added.
The PPRO assured that once that was done, “the most appropriate and professional thing will be done”.
He enjoined members of the public to continue to furnish the police with information and report every suspicious movement around them, adding that the effectiveness of community policing is predicated on collaboration and information sharing.