The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has accused the Police of arresting three lawyers filing processes at the election petition tribunal to challenge the March 18 governorship election in the state.
The APC governorship hopeful alleged that five support staff of the party were also arrested by the operatives.
It was gathered that the lawyers who are attached to the Chambers og Tuduru Ede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), were picked on Friday night at a hotel they were lodging in Port Harcourt.
Confirmimg the arrest to newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, Cole describe development as a rude awakening, saying the operatives tool materials belonging to the lawyers.
He said: “This is a rude awakening. I was woken up this morning with a frantic calls about 7am that our lawyers and support staff have been arrested and taken away from the hotel where they lodged.
“By the time I rushed down to the hotel, they have already gone. And then in trying to find out where they were taken to. I was told they were taken to the intelligence and surveillance unit in Ogbunabali (Port Harcourt).
“I and the party agent and our lead counsel went there and we were kept for over an hour, we didn’t see them, only to be told that they’ve been transferred to state CID (Criminal Investigation Department).
“I have never heard lawyers preparing a petition thatbis time-bound being arrested. More worring is that all our evidence was taken away.
“Now can we trust that evidence when we get it back? The lawyers were writing their brief before being taken away. Now the opposition knows exactly what we want to argue. I am in shock. I am not leaving this place today until they are released.
“These are lawyers legitimately preparing their petitions. We cannot go to the tribunal and tell them we didn’t meet the date because our lawyers were arrested.
“The police cannot continue being used. I feel that the police is being used to scuttle us. We already have evidence of the police being used in the hijack of electoral materials on election day. The Inspector General of Police must call them to order.”
Also speaking, lead counsel to the APC and it’s candidates, Tuduru Ed, SAN, said it was unheard of for the police to allow themselves to be used.
Ede said: “All in a way of scuttling the petitions. They took away all the EC8 papers and copies of election results we have collated from the agents.
“We are asking that all the arrested persons should be released. We believe our stay there was compromised by the staff of the hotel.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko proved abortive as her mobile phone.
She had yet to reply a text message sent to her mobile as of the time of filing this report.
