WHO authored the open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan in which his attention was drawn to the threat to the lives of top government officials in Rivers State, including Governor Rotimi Amaechi and House of Assembly Speaker Otelemaba Dan- Amachree.
Dan- Amachree, who allegedly wrote the letter and subsequently invited for interrogation by the police, denied knowledge of the controversial document.
Count me out, the speaker told Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the State High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He told the judge that neither him, nor any government official knew anything about the document, which according to him, bore no signature.
The controversial document, which raised allegations of insecurity and threat to the lives of some government functionaries in the state, was credited to Dan-Amachree.
It (document) was prominent in the media last month.
In the document entitled: “Open Letter to Mr. President”, the speaker reportedly raised alarm of plans to kill Amaechi, himself and some other government officials, loyal to the governor.
Also within the period, the Chief of Staff (CoS) in Government House, Tony Okocha, raised another alarm on plots by some persons to introduce bombing into the crisis rocking the local chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Okocha alleged that the private homes of perceived loyalist of the state governor were the targets.
Commissioner of Police Mbu J. Mbu described the allegations as serious and invited both the speaker and the CoS for more clarifications.
In a news briefing in Port Harcourt, Mbu said: “The speaker has raised very serious issues about security threats and about the attempt to assassinate the governor (Rivers), His Excellency and Chief Security Officer of the state.
“That is a very serious issue and the speaker of the state House of Assembly will be invited and will be interrogated to give facts and throw more light into this information.”
Gripped by fear of arrest, the duo went into hiding for a while and later reappeared before the judge to seek an order to restrain the police from inviting and arresting them over the alarms linked to them.
They accused the police of a ploy to infringe on their fundamental human rights and urged the court to stop them.
They were asked to serve parties in the suit – the Inspector- General of Police (IGP), Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIGP), Zone Six, State Commissioner of Police (CP) and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for their defence.
The defendants in their counter affidavits said the submissions by the applicant were invitation to the court to stop the police from inviting a citizen for investigation.
Addressing the court on the application at the sitting yesterday, Dan-Amachree, represented by Emenike Ebete, told the court that the motion bordered on the suspicion that the fundamental human rights of his client was going to be infringed upon by the police.
Ebete urged the court to go ahead and give the order to restrain the police from inviting and arresting the speaker, saying he was innocent of the allegation against him.
He said the application was based on the invitation by the police to his client to answer to the charge for which he did not make any report on.
Ebete noted that the offence linking Amachree to the charge (the document), was his position as the speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, which suspended the Executives of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, and the failed efforts by the Felix Obuah-led PDP executive committee in the state to have the suspension order reversed.
Dan-Amachree’ lawyer accused Obuah of instigating the police to form a biased opinion against his client to enable them effect his arrest.
He stressed that none of the government officials wrote or made any report of threat to live to either the police or the President, including the speaker.
The counsel told the judge that “the applicant was invited by the police to answer to the charge for which no report was made against him.
The affidavits before the court are meant to explain that the offence of the applicant was that he suspended elected officials of Obio/Akpor council in his capacity as speaker and that he declined Obuah’s order to vacate the suspension.
Ebete said: “This was the bias upon which the speaker was invited by the police. The open letter addressed to President Jonathan was not signed by anyone.
“There is no nexus on the document for which the speaker is being invited. There is no nexus between the document and the applicant.
“Neither my client (the speaker), Amaechi or any of the government officials made any report to the police, or president Jonathan on threat to their lives. Apart from the document there is no other reason the police is trailing the speaker.
“The position of the law is that any document that is not signed is baseless. I urge the court to discountenance the document and not rely on it.”
The judge adjourned the case till July 29 for judgment.
Earlier in the case involving Okocha Mbu and three others, the court ordered that the third respondent, the President of Port Harcourt club, Sylvester Wiyioma be served by pasting the writ of summons on the main gate of the office at Forces Avenue in Port Harcourt.
Okocha, representative by Vincent Uchendu, made an application seeking an order to serve the party by substituted means. He informed the court of his difficulties to effect normal service on him (3rd respondent).
He alleged that Wiyioma was dodging service.
The judge adjourned the matter till August 5, for hearing.
