Police Speak On Arrest Of Ex-commissioner For Criticising APC Governor

The Imo State Police Command has dismissed the purported abduction of a former commissioner for foreign affairs in the state, Fabian Ihekweme.

Naija News reports that there have been reports suggesting that Ihekweme was abducted on Wednesday by gunmen in his Abuja residence.

The former commissioner was said to have been whisked away after the attackers forced his driver to phone him.

In a video shared on Facebook, his wife, Excel Fabian, claimed that the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, sent unknown men to pick up her husband on Wednesday afternoon.

She asked the people of Imo State to hold the governor responsible if anything happened to her husband.

However, the state police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, in a statement on Thursday, refuted the reports, noting that Ihekweme was lawfully arrested by police detectives and not abducted by gunmen.

Okoye said Ihekweme was arrested on 27 November in response to a petition from a civil society group, the Imo Democratic Alliance.

The police spokesperson urged Nigerians to disregard the report on social media suggesting that gunmen abducted the former commissioner.

He said, “The petition accused him of seditious and inflammatory publications aimed at inciting civil unrest in the state.

“In line with due process, a duly signed warrant of arrest was obtained before his detention.

“The Imo State Police Command remains committed to upholding the rule of law without external influence and will provide timely updates as necessary.”