Rivers police confirm arrest of NASS member with over $498, 000, list for disbursement
BY AMAKA AGBU
The Rivers State Police Command on Friday confirmed the arrest of a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinyere Igwe, representing Port Harcourt II Federal Constituency, and believed to be one of the PDP presidential campaign managers in the state, with a cash sum of 498,100 USD inside a bag in his car.
According to a statement released by the Command in Port Harcourt shortly after the arrest, police officers from Rivers State Command deployed to the Independent National Electoral Commission, IINEC, Headquarters Aba Road, around 2.45am, while on stop and search, arrested Hon. Chinyere Igwe with the said foreign currency.
The statement signed by the Command’s image maker, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, the police also said that a list prepared for the distribution of the hard currency was also recovered from Hon. Igwe.
Following the arrest, the AIG Election in Rivers State, Abutu Yaro fdc, has ordered swift interrogation and the arraignment of the accused in court.
The Command, therefore, urged all contestants and political parties to comply strictly with the provisions of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws and encouraged members of the pubic to avail themselves of the following hotlines to report any observation they believed had potential to lead to crime or break down of law and order: 08032003514, 08098880134.
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Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command has condemned in all totality a video circulating on social media of an APC member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ephraim Nwuzi, saying some people resident in the state should be shot during the presidential election on Saturday to teach the others a lesson.
In the video, Mr. Ephraim Nwuzi was seen accusing some people of compromise in the election, saying when two or three of them got shot, others would run away.
In the police statement also signed by SP Grace Iringe-Koko, the Supervising Assistant Inspector-General of Police for the Elections, AIG Abutu Yaro, had invited the APC Chieftain for questioning on the content of the video to ascertain the intent of the lawmaker.
AIG Yaro assured INEC officials, INEC Ad Hoc staff, NYSC members, foreign and local observers, voters, and all other stakeholders in the elections of adequate security before, during, and after the general election.
He urged all contestants and political parties to exercise caution and called on the Rivers State residents to call the police at the following emergency numbers to report all suspicious activities and persons during the course of the elections: 08032003514, 08098880134.
Already the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 13 (Awka) Anambra State, AIG Abutu Yaro, fdc, had been deployed to supervise four Commissioners of Police deployed to Rivers State for the 2023 General Elections. The CP’s are CP Yomi Olanrewaju, CP Samuel Musa, CP Lanre B. Sikiru, and CP Aderemi Adeoye, coordinating the State Headquarters while the Rivers Police Command Commissioner of Police, CP Okon O. Effiong, has been redeployed for election duty in Enugu State.
The Command urged the people of Rivers State to come out en-masse to exercise their franchise and vote for candidates of their choice, assuring that adequate deployments had been made to ensure that elections were peaceful, secured, free, fair, and credible.
