Cyril Dum Wite, Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Special Projects, was arrested by soldiers in Khana during the state legislative rerun election, last Saturday, for allegedly being in possession of military uniforms and a large money.

Released on bail, he speaks with DEPUTY EDITOR, DAPO FALADE the entire allegation, among other issues.

Were you really caught with military uniforms and sum of money during the legislative rerun election held in Rivers State, last Saturday?

I am really perplexed by what went viral. A friend of mine told there was an aggressive propaganda commissioned and I asked does he meant by that. He said what has been going on in Rivers State, especially the rerun, was too aggressive and the highest lie from the pit of hell. I have had my reputation built over 50 years now and anybody who knows me knows that I am a man of persuasion; I am very disciplined. I am not somebody that goes about with thugs, and I don’t have a police orderly. So, I will not do anything that is clearly against the Law.

What really happened that Saturday, the day of the rerun election, was that we had waited in my ward, Ward 12 in Lugbara in Khana, for the materials up till noon. Suddenly, I had a call from my ward chairman that the material’s were being hijacked on the way from Bori, the INEC centre. I asked where was this happening and I was told it was Wiakara, that the two army trucks guiding the election materials on both sides were trying to force the bus carrying the materials to turn into Wiakara, the home town of one of the APC stalwarts. This is the same Wiakara, where soldiers have been in camp for over one week, preceding the election, trying to perfect their plans to hijack election materials. For me, I didn’t bother because I knew that the people were on our side.

When the INEC Presiding Officer could no longer contain what was happening, she was forced to say she was going back to Bori. I traced them to the INEC office in Bori and I saw the lady in charge of the election materials in Ward 12 and I asked her what was happening. She told me the place was becoming too rowdy; she could not get to the RAC centre. But I said the RAC centre is in Lugbara, where you will distribute materials to Gure and Wiakara. She insisted that she wanted to go back to Bori. But I told her the law says she should go to the RAC centre and from there, you can now go to the other units. She said since the time had gone, she would deliver the materials unit-by-unit. I asked her, ‘what is the guarantee that she would deliver unit-by-unit and she said she would be escorted by the military. I now said my concern was for the materials to get to my ward, how it would get there, I don’t want to know.

I turned to the soldier and he told me whatever (that is the word he used and I was shocked) the INEC woman said, that was what he was going to do. And I said, okay, let us go to the unit. Suddenly, the soldiers around us started beating about three boys who are my cousins who came with me to report the matter at the INEC office. I asked why they were beating the boys. The soldiers in turn asked why am was defending them. I told them the boys came with me to the INEC office at Bori to lodge a complain of the hijack of materials and that it had been confirmed that the materials could not arrive and we had traced the materials back to the INEC office here and that we have even settled the matter and were going back to cast our vote.

Then, how did this become a major issue?

While speaking, one of the soldiers came to hit me on the head and another one came to beat on my sides. As we speak, I can’t even breath very well because I was kicked from several directions, to the floor. I was arrested on the instruction of APC and I was shocked because I belong to Khana Constituency 1. I was shocked that he was the one who directed that I should be beaten, alleging that I and Senator Lee Maeba had procured military uniforms to rig the election. Here was somebody I worked with in the midst. More importantly, we have a family relationship. In fact.

All of this happened at the INEC office, with over 2000 people witnessing it. It is not as if I was arrested on the road or anywhere else. I was arrested at the INEC office, where I went to make a complain about the hijack of election materials. I cannot sit back in my ward, when I have not seen the election materials and I have been told by my ward chairman that the materials had been snatched on the road by soldiers. I felt very bad and I had to report. I am not a party agent but the leader of the ward.

 But do you have any military uniform on you when you were arrested?

Clearly, I had no uniform. What you saw on the video with about other three men wearing camouflage, I had no knowledge of them; I don’t know them from Adams. I was seated on the floor when they brought them. I think they were arrested on the road; the police can attest to that. I don’t know them; they were not arrested with me. I was beaten and kicked to the floor at the INEC office in Bori; I was not arrested from anywhere. They arrested those men on the road and they brought them to sit by my side. They had no business with me; they were not in the same car with me.

I had no uniform at all. In this case, [there was] only one police uniform and it belonged to one of the four police officers that were to serve in my unit. All of them came to identify that uniform, that it belonged to one of the officers there. What really happened was that they had been at the RAC centre in my village since last Thursday. A cousin of mine had assisted them to provide them with food, water and where to take their bath. On this Saturday morning, the man had gone to his room to take his bath and left his bag in the car.

So when the information came that they were hijacking election materials at Bori, I just told my cousin, who owns the car, to let us go there. When they started beating us and searching his car, they saw a bag and when they emptied the contents, a uniform was there and an identity card that belonged to that police officer who was posted to the RAC centre, clearly on election duties and who was assisted by the community where he was posted to. There was nothing wrong in that; after all, they do say the police is your friend. My community and Bori are just about 20 minutes apart.

The man came and identified his uniform and said he was taking his bath and left his bag in the car. The car is not mine. The man identified his bag, containing his uniform, ID Card and his Bible. They gave him his bag and allowed him to go back to the RAC centre. The owner of the uniform is not a fake police officer; he was posted on an election duty and he identified his bag. What is wrong in assisting the Nigerian. Police to work? The uniform does not belong to me; it does not belong to the owner of the car. The owner left the uniform in the car to take his bath and hurriedly we took the car to go and prevent the hijack of election materials.

What of the money found on you?

I had no knowledge of such an amount of money until they displayed the cash. This is because the owner of the money is the owner of the car. When he was interrogated, he said he made a large transaction on Thursday or so but the bank was closed. Instead of leaving the money in his house, he said that he was not sure of its safety [and] he put the money in the boot of his car, pending maybe when the banks would be opened.  He said he had about N2 million in his car. What is wrong with that? The money was in his car and he identified it. Part of the money was even stolen by the soldiers. But because they wanted to play gimmicks and embarrass themselves, not me, they now put the money in front of me. They asked me to count it and I asked them, why should I count it? I was beaten black and blue to count the money. So, the money is not mine; the car is not my own; the uniform they saw does not belong to me- I did not procure it. The men they put by my side were arrested from the road for a different offence; I don’t know them. I am a man of integrity; I have served Rivers State for several years now. I am well-known. Nobody should tamper with my integrity; I have built it for over 50 years.

Who do you think is behind all these and what could have been the motive?

Clearly, I saw somebody, Friday Inkee, that was pointing at me that they should kill me. He said me and Senator Lee Maeba had procured uniforms to rig that election. But there was nothing like that. Everybody knows Senator Maeba; he is a man of integrity and he will never do anything of such. People defended us. It pissed me so much that this is a family friend who is pointing that I should be beaten up.

Even there, why didn’t they put up the picture of the PDP agent that was being asked to sit on the floor? He was brought out of the INEC office and was asked to sit outside so that they could manipulate their things. Must we win all the time? All that happened was a complete frame up. Everybody knows me here in the state that I am not that kind of a person; I don’t go about with police, neither do I go about with boys. I am free-minded. So, I could not have now, for the purposes of election, go and procure people. The police will tell you that those men whose pictures they put on the social media were arrested on the road by soldiers and were brought to the INEC office. They were now asked to sit by my side for the purpose of their pictures, which is crazy. Of course, God will punish whoever did that. I don’t have any boy; I don’t have any soldier. I move about freely as a special adviser to the governor and so for any reason, I don’t need anybody; I don’t need the boys either.

What efforts are you making to disabuse the mind of your people about the wrong impression the arrest must have created of you?

I don’t need to disabuse the mind of my people. Let me make it very clear that my people know my character and my integrity. It is only those who don’t know me that may doubt and say maybe this was what happened. They know me over the years and I would not change. They know that I am not the kind of person that gets involved in thuggery. My people have their mindset about me; I have been reading what people are posting on the Facebook. People have been saying, ‘Cyril will not do this’ and I feel very proud and honoured that my people know me. They can sell that fake story to the Lagos Press but it cannot sell here; everybody knows that I am a successful businessman and I am well-known sports journalist.

If you are truly innocent, are you going ahead to press charges against those you said masterminded?

Well, if things are not properly handled, I may consider the need to press charges because thus is clearly a big frame-up from Friday Inkee, the APC candidate from Khana Constituency 2. I am really worried because we don’t belong to the same constituency and I would not vote for him as he does not really need my vote to win election. I am very surprised that this is happening; it looks to me that there is more to it than meet the eye and I would have to unravel who is behind it.

Tribune…….

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