Two houses belonging to the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, Chief Soboma Jackrich have been raided by operatives from the State Criminal Investigation Department, CID. Our correspondent learnt that the operatives stormed one of the houses located in Usokun Community in Degema Local Government Area at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday and ransacked the building.

It was furtehr gathered that a similar operation took place at the chairman’s house in Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area.

Sources said about 30 persons were arrested and taken to the SCID in Port Harcourt pending police investigation into allegations that the council chairman was keeping arms and ammunition inside the two houses.
It was also learnt that though no arms was recovered, a large number of Permanent Voter Cards, PVC, were said to have been seized by the police. But speaking on the incident, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the council chairman, Mr. Bobo Ikiriko, said the raid was politically motivated.

He further said the police acted on a petition by All Progressives Congress, APC in the state. Ikiriko maintained that the police did not recover any arm or PVC in the two houses.

“It is politics; everything is politically motivated. Soboma Jackrich has done well for the people. We now have peace in the area . For the first time, we had a party held till dawn. But the APC people are seeing him (Jackrich) as a threat because of his soaring popularity.
“They (APC) wrote some petitions and they (police) came and invaded his houses. Some of the people that came (the police) were putting on masks. “If not for the policemen that were guiding him, the chairman would have been killed. To say that PVCs were recovered were all falsehood.

They arrested over 30 PDP members and took them to SCID,” Ikiriko said. Reacting, state Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, said it was wrong for PDP to politicise issues bordering on insecurity.

He said APC will continue to be interested in the security of lives and property in the state and beyond. When contacted, state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, said the Police Command would speak on the matter at the right time. A text message sent to our reporter by Mohammad reads: “We will speak on it (raiding of council chairman’s houses) at the right time.”

Nationalmirror…….

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