Police,Rivers Govt Trade Words On Hon Lloyd's Whereabout

The  Rivers State Police Command and the state government on Sunday traded words on the whereabouts of the the Majority Leader of the  House of Assembly, Mr. Chidi Lloyd.

Lloyd was  last week  declared wanted by the police command  a few hours before  Force  headquarters in Abuja invited him  for  allegedly attacking another lawmaker with a  mace during  the free-for-all in the Assembly. The fracas was caused by an attempt by five lawmakers loyal  to the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike  to   unseat the speaker.

While the state government claimed that the Police knew where to find the embattled lawmaker, the spokesperson for the command, said they would not have declared him wanted if they knew where to locate him.

Chief of Staff,  Government House,  Port Harcourt, Mr. Tony Okocha, who accused the police of bias in handling the crisis, said   they (police) were free to search the Government House for Lloyd.

He said, “Lloyd is not in Government House. He has been receiving treatment since the incident in the House of Assembly. I am sure that the police know where he is. You can see how one-sided they (police) are.

“Even when Evans Bipi was the first to hit Chidi Lloyd, the only person declared wanted is Lloyd. We saw a video clip where Bipi was boasting that he hit Chidi Lloyd. We also heard how he dealt Ngo, a lawmaker in the House a blow.

“We are shocked that nobody is inviting them (Bipi and four other anti-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers) for interrogation. In the matter, there must be what we call cause and effect relationship.  Bipi was the first to hit Lloyd before he (Lloyd) retaliated.”

Okocha however said the  government was ready to embrace anything that would ensure that peace reigned in  the state.

 The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, however, said it was wrong for any person to insinuate that the police knew the whereabouts of the Majority Leader.

Agabe, who said that the police were not biased in  handling of the matter.

“If the police knew where Chidi Lloyd is, they (police) would not have declared him wanted. The search for the lawmaker over the assault on a fellow member   is still on,” she explained.