Rivers Police Makes U-Turn, Indicts Self Over Arrest of Chidi Lloyd in Amaechi’s Plane

The Rivers state police command has backtracked on its earlier statement claiming that they arrested leader of the Rivers state assembly, Chidi Lloyd in the private jet of the Governor Rotimi Amaechi while he was attempting to escape justice.

The Police had accused Lloyd of attempting to evade arrest after an “accident” involving his vehicle led to the death of two people – a policeman, Urang Obadiah and a politician, Kingsley Ejeuo, from Emohua local government where Lloyd hails from.



The state government as well as the lawyer to Lloyd, Mr. Emenike Ebete, strongly refuted that allegation, claiming that Lloyd’s arrest took place at his home and accused the police of lies.

But the police in a new twist claim that they suspected that Lloyd was in the aircraft with Amaechi, but whether that was where he was finally arrested, the Rivers State Police Command spokesperson, Ahmad Muhammad, was strangely silent.

Speaking in Port Harcourt yesterday, Muhammad said that the police does not owe Amaechi any apology because it has many sources of information and if they suspected that Lloyd was being taken out of the state, the police has to go and search the place.

“Where have we gone wrong that we should apologise? We reasonably suspected that he was trying to smuggle him out. The police reasonably suspected,” said Muhammad.

Lawyer to Lloyd, Ebete, claimed that the lawmaker was discharged from the hospital and was not smuggled out, but the police argued that he was smuggled out through the back door of the hospital in three black SUVs with tinted screens. Muhammad claimed that the police was worried because, “We are all living witnesses of the fracas in the House of Assembly on July 9. The ADC of the governor was involved? What happened? Where is he? Who smuggled him out of the country?”

Speaking further, Muhammad said, “No stones will be left unturned. The issue of Chidi Lloyd escaping from the hospital is also being investigated. The policemen that were on duty there are also being investigated. When he came to the realisation that our plain-clothed policemen were watching him, why did he leave that hospital?

“Chidi Lloyd is under arrest and the matter will be investigated thoroughly. We will not leave any stones unturned.”

He decried the fact that “members of the public are only talking about Kingsley.”

“What of the sergeant?” he asked. “Is he not a Nigerian? Has he no right to life, as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria? Are the lives of these two Nigerians worthless?”

The police also disclosed that failure to account for Lloyd’s departure by the four plain-clothed policemen deployed to the Kelsey Harrison Hospital in Port Harcourt is being investigated

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