Following an order by a Federal High Court in Abuja permitting the Police to arrest Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff (CoS) to Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, the people of Ekpeye Nation have fingered Barr. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, over the plot.
There are moves to arrest Ehie, a former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, despite a high court in Rivers granting an ex-parte order against his arrest for allegedly razing the Assembly complex last October, when the crisis erupted among lawmakers over the plot to impeach Fubara.
The Abuja court wants Ehie and five other suspects, including Jinjiri Bala, Happy Benedict, Progress Joseph, Adokiye Oyagiri and Chibuike Peter, also known as Rambo, arrested over the fire incident that razed part of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.
The threat to arrest Ehie, whom Fubara swore in as Chief of Staff a few days ago, according to findings, is being taken seriously by Fubara’s camp, which is said to be carrying out underground works to prevent the arrest from taking place.
But it is the Ekpeye Ethnic Nation, through its convener, Apostle Jonathan Solomon, that has openly warned against Ehie’s arrest while linking the whole plot to Wike.
Solomon told journalists in Port Harcourt that “the recent call for the arrest of Rt Hon Edison Ehie and his supporters by the Nigeria Police as a ploy to create unrest in Rivers State as we, the Ekpeye Ethnic Nation, will stop at nothing to protect Ekpeye sons.”
He added: “We are not oblivious of the fact that this harassment is obviously coming from the stable of the FCT Minister, Chief Barr Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who has issued several threats in public places that he has a running battle with our son, the Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie.
“At first, the Ekpeye people conceived the political feud in Rivers State as a usual intraparty imbroglio that would be resolved amicably, but as the days went by it became glaring to us that it is no longer an intra-party affair but a resolve by Nyesom Wike to ridicule our son, High Chief Edison Ehie, and scuttle his political dreams and vision.
“We consider the consistent harassment of Rt Hon Edison Ehie and the flagrant arrest and detention of some Ekpeye youths in Abuja, as instigated by Nyesom Wike, as the latter’s total disregard for the Ekpeye nation…
“Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie is a distinguished High Chief in Ekpeye Lane with a noble title as the Eze Ugboji Ekpeye (The King of the Youths).
This revered title prohibits him from being associated with antisocial and criminal activities, such as contemplating to burn down the Rivers State Assembly Complex.
“The accusation that he masterminded the burning down of the Assembly is not only malicious but also a political gimmick by his political enemies to demonize, criminalize, and incarcerate him. We, the Ekpeye Ethnic Nation, shall resist this at all costs.
“We consider all these accusations against Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie and the arrest and detention of his loyalists, who are also Ekpeye sons, as a deliberate attempt by the FCT Minister to undermine the sociopolitical relevance of the Ekpeye Ethnic Nation in the politics of Rivers State.
“The Ekpeye Ethnic Nation Is hereby stating without restraints that we can no longer fold our arms and watch the FCT Minister harass, intimidate, and witch-hunt Ekpeye sons, especially the Rt Hon Edison Ehie, all in the name of proving his political weight in Rivers State. Any harassment or intimidation of Edison and his loyalists amounts to intimidation of the Ekpeye nation.”