Suspects Allege Pressure to Implicate Fubara’s Chief of Staff in Assembly Fire

Suspects recently acquitted in connection with the fire incident at the Rivers State House of Assembly have claimed to be under intense pressure to falsely implicate Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.

Chime Ezebalike, Kenneth Kpasa, Oladele Lukman, and MacPherson Olumini, who spent over six months in detention at Kuje Correctional Facility before being discharged and acquitted in November 2024, addressed journalists during a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Monday.

According to Ezebalike, a prominent PDP leader in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area recently reached out to them, urging them to alter their original statements and name Ehie as the mastermind of the Assembly fire.

“We were asked to rewrite our story and falsely name Edison Ehie as the mastermind of the Assembly fire. This is after everything we have been through. We cannot be part of any nefarious plot, especially not after the trauma we endured,” he stated.

Three of the four acquitted men appeared on camera to back their claims. They alleged that the pressure is part of a larger political agenda, designed to support earlier allegations made by former Rivers State Head of Service, George Nwaeke, who had publicly accused Ehie of orchestrating the Assembly fire at the behest of Governor Fubara.

Beyond the Assembly fire, the men said they were also being asked to link Ehie to other serious crimes, including the killing of Divisional Police Officer Bako Angbashim in Ahoada and an alleged assassination attempt on Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule.

The four men said they were arrested in December 2023 under what they described as “dubious circumstances.” Oladele was picked up on December 5, followed by Chime and MacPherson on December 16, and Kenneth on January 5, 2024. All were allegedly blindfolded and detained at the Federal Intelligence Response Team (F-IRT) facility in Port Harcourt.

While in custody, they claimed they were tortured, denied access to legal counsel, and coerced into signing false confessions.

They narrated how a serving member of the Rivers State House of Assembly allegedly visited them alongside a uniformed officer and demanded they implicate Ehie. “When we refused, they turned to beatings and starvation,” they said.

They also alleged that a former local government chairman offered them ₦200 million and relocation abroad in exchange for their cooperation—an offer they said was repeated during a forced transfer to Abuja.

In one case, a fellow detainee was reportedly promised his freedom if he identified Kenneth Kpasa as an arsonist.

Following their prolonged detention, the case was eventually transferred to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, where all charges against them were dismissed in November 2024.

The men said they are speaking out not just for their own vindication, but for others who may be wrongly accused or suffering in silence.

“This country belongs to us all. No one should be tortured or forced to lie for political convenience. We call on civil society, the media, and all justice-loving Nigerians to rise and resist the weaponization of state institutions against innocent citizens,” Ezebalike said.

Their revelations follow last month’s press briefing by George Nwaeke, who accused suspended Governor Fubara of directing Edison Ehie to torch the assembly complex.