The federal government has filed terrorism charges against four individuals based in Port Harcourt, accusing them of invading, vandalizing, and setting ablaze the Rivers State House of Assembly last year. The accused, believed to be supporters of Siminalaye Fubara, are alleged to have committed these terrorism offenses during a period of political turmoil in Port Harcourt in October of the preceding year.
The individuals facing charges include Chima Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald, and Ochueja Thankgod. Former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Edison Ehie, has also been implicated in the 7-count terrorism charges but is reported to be at large along with other suspects.
The four accused, currently in the custody of the police anti-terrorism department at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, are scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja today. The charges, with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, named as the complainant, accuse them of not only burning down the State House of Assembly but also being involved in the killing of a Superintendent of Police, Bako Agbashim, and five police informants in Ahoada community.
The charges further allege their use of various cult groups, including Supreme Viking Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland, and Greenland, to perpetrate violence against the people of the state and disrupt commercial activities.
Leading the prosecution team before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja is Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Simon Lough. The charges specify that on October 29, 2023, at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, the accused conspired to commit acts of terrorism by willfully destroying public properties, specifically invading, attacking, destroying, and burning the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The arraignment is scheduled to take place before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
