Twenty-six members of the Rivers State
House of Assembly supporting Governor Rotimi Amaechi on Sunday said they
would take the continued detention of their Majority Leader, Mr. Chidi
Lloyd, to the International Court of Justice.
Lloyd had being in custody since last Tuesday after honouring police summons at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
The police declared the Majority Leader
wanted following his involvement in the fracas that took place in the
State House of Assembly on July 9, 2013.
Speaking on behalf of pro-Amaechi
lawmakers, the Assembly Deputy Speaker, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, said since
“justice eluded” them in Nigeria, they would seek the enforcement of the
rights of the Majority Leader overseas.
Kwanee, who spoke with journalists in
Port Harcourt on Sunday, noted that they were already assembling a team
of lawyers, who would challenge the human rights abuses against Lloyd.
He also said the Speaker of the House,
Mr. Otelemaba Amachree, currently in Namibia for the conference of
Commonwealth Parliamentarians, would draw the attention of other foreign
lawmakers to the development in Rivers.
He said, “We may seek justice towards
ensuring that Chidi Lloyd’s rights are protected and his cause is also
ventilated, probably in the International Court of Justice, if it comes
to that. The Speaker will also draw the attention of the Commonwealth to
the ugly development.
“We need to ensure that democracy is
respected in Rivers State. Lloyd reported himself to the Force
Headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday.
“As I speak with you now, he is being
held up at the State CID by the same police authorities under the
leadership of Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu. Lloyd was blindfolded,
tortured and teargas was sprayed all over him.
“We have been refused access to him.
Information reaching us indicates that he is going blind, occasioned by
the teargas in his eyes. Medical help has also been refused him.”
He added that they had taken the case to the church to seek God’s intervention.
He described Mbu as a “major” problem in
the crisis in the state, insisting that there was the need to respect
the decision of the National Assembly to immediately redeploy the police
chief.
Earlier, the lawmakers, in a statement, had accused Mbu of torturing and blindfolding Lloyd like a criminal.
They said, “As a House, we are indeed
saddened to note that the Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly
was blindfolded, tear gassed and handcuffed.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party in the state has accused Amaechi, of plotting to scuttle the prosecution of Lloyd.
The PDP state Chairman, Mr. Felix Obuah,
in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Mr. Jerry Needam, alleged
that the governor had directed the state Attorney-General, Mr. Worgu
Boms, to “frustrate” the prosecution of the Majority Leader.
Obuah said, “Governor Amaechi, who has
never cared to visit Mr. Michael Chinda in the hospital or offer any
assistance or condolence to him or his family, is hell-bent on
frustrating the prosecution of Lloyd through the State Attorney-General
and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms. This shows that the
governor is comfortable with the life-threatening harm that Lloyd caused
Chinda.”
However, the governor’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Tony Okocha, dismissed Obuah’s claim, describing it as lacking in logic.
Okocha also described the allegation as laughable.
According to him, it is wrong for the
state PDP to have accused Amaechi of obstructing justice when the
Majority Leader is still in police custody with no attempt to arraign
him in court.
Also, the Chief Press Secretary to the
governor, Mr. David Iyofor, described as ridiculous the position of the
state PDP on the detention of the Majority Leader.
Iyofo said, “Lloyd has not been charged
to court yet. So, the alleged giving of a supposed direction on a matter
that has not even arisen is a most ridiculous speculation aimed at
prejudicing or influencing the exercise of the powers of the
Attorney-General, should Chidi Lloyd be eventually charged to court.”
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