Just In : Police free pro-Fubara lawmaker after 14 days in detention
Two weeks after his arrest, the member representing Ahoada West Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, has regained his freedom after spending 14 days in police custody.
Sokari was arrested on April 18 outside the venue of the Peoples Democratic Party National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja.
The lawmaker was arrested alongside another PDP chieftain, Ezebunwo Itcemati.
Both Sokari and Itcemati are loyalists of the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The police arrested them allegedly on the orders of a serving local government chairman and an ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Fubara and Wike are currently embroiled in a political battle after they fell out late last year.
The crisis between them has seen political stalwarts in Rivers State taking sides.
In a viral video seen by our correspondent, a lady, who claims to be a member of Fubara’ team at the PDP NEC meeting, alleged that policemen in the company of the Rivers council chairman swooped on the Sokari and Itcemati and whisked them away to an unknown destination.
Our correspondent, who has been following the arrest, reports that while Itchemati was freed a few days after, Sokari was held back in police custody until Thursday when he regained his freedom.
The Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Jerry Omatsogunwa, confirmed the development to our correspondent on the telephone on Thursday afternoon.
Omatsogunwa described the action of the police as an aberration, which had no place in civilised society.
He stated, “Yes, Honourable Sokari Goodboy Sokari has been released. He was released today (Thursday) by the police in Abuja. According to the Bible, sorrow endures for the night but joy comes in the morning. I want to say that we can improve on whatever we do in policing in this country.”
Omatsogunwa explained that in modern societies the police would conclude their investigation before effecting an arrest, saying, “I say so because even the laws of Nigeria says you cannot keep somebody for more than 24 hours (without taking them to court).
“There is no evidence to show that they got an order from a court to detain him for this number of days. Over two weeks, that innocent man has been incarcerated. For me, it is not a good development at all.
“As far as I’m concerned, the police can do more. They don’t just need to act on impulse or the idea of someone to determine who they should arrest and who they should not arrest. It is not a good one at all.”
Governor Fubara’s aide, however, said he was not surprised because the reason for the arrest of the lawmaker in the first place was politically motivated.
He linked Sokari’s travail to his opposition to the move by pro-Wike lawyers to impeach Fubara last year.
Omatsogunwa said, “There is a popular saying that in the gathering of fowls, a cockroach can never be innocent. You know this man (Sokari) is part of the lawmakers in the House of Assembly who said: ‘What has the governor done that they want to impeach him?
“I think that is the only offence that he has committed. The police should not be brought into the police. A situation where a local government chairman is the one that will lead the police to show who to arrest and who not to arrest is an aberration to our society.
“Again for somebody in the position of Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, the police should even obtain a court order or warrant of arrest before he is arrested. This is a shame to the police and they should not repeat it.”
The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, confirmed Sokari’s release, saying he was granted bail by the court.
He stated, “He was granted bail. The IGP insisted that he should be taken to court, which is routine, though I don’t know the details.”
He added, “As a lawmaker, there is no reason why anybody should subject him to that kind of humiliation. But I take it as part of the hanging fruits when there are disagreements; and I don’t think this is the way to go.
“We shouldn’t be intimidating people. We are in a free world and people should freely express themselves and be allowed to move around. That you are supporting a particular candidate or that somebody in government shouldn’t be, even in law, it does not allow you to arrest somebody for the offence of another not to talk of somebody who did not even commit any crime.
“So, it is quite salutary that he has regained his freedom and we know that God is in this matter. Any plot to humiliate us or humiliate this government must fail. That is my conviction.”
