#Rivers Crisis: Blindfolded, detained, possibly tortured, the many travails of Chidi Lloyd To say that Hon. Chidi Lloyd is the new star of the ongoing saga in Rivers is to put it mildly. According to his lawyers, he may be tortured in the hands of the Police. He was flown to Port Harcourt on Friday ostensibly to commence his trial, not forgetting that the suit he filed to restrain the police from arresting him. However, the day ended without the police arraigning him in court and the suit wasn’t heard despite several hours of waiting by his lawyers and associates in court. A member of Lloyd’s legal team, Emenike Ebete, gave a passionate rendition of the events surrounding his client’s treatment to journalists. “Abuja Headquarters treated him with respect; he was never brutalized there. It was only when we came here that the whole thing changed,” he said. “We reported to the IGP on Tuesday. We held a meeting with the IG and the DIG. My client, Chidi Lloyd, turned himself over to the police at the Force Headquarters. They treated us with respect. We were with them for about four days, and they did their investigation. Late yesterday (Thursday) we were told that he would be charged to court this morning (yesterday) and we left Abuja as early as 7am. By 8.45am, we landed at the Air Force base, Port Harcourt. “Thereafter, there was a signal that the place was not safe, and that we should hold on. That was when I started smelling rat. We waited for over two hours, after which we were asked to go. Over 500 policemen in their Hilux vehicles and armoured personnel carriers (APC) were all over the place. At a point when we started moving, we stopped for over 30 minutes; they said they were waiting for another vehicle. At the end of the day, we got to the office of the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mbu J. Mbu. My client emerged from the Black Maria. He was brought in with a black blindfold, as if he is a common criminal. “He walked into the CP’s office, and they spent about three minutes.The CP then drove off to God knows where. Later we went to the Police Officers’ Mess where we were waiting for his charge sheet to be prepared, so he could be brought to court. Since noon, we have been waiting. Till now, that charge has not been filed. “What that means is that they are going to keep him there throughout the weekend. I am not even sure if they will even charge him to court on Monday. What that means now is that he will remain in their custody, exposed to all sorts of inhuman treatment. “I am calling on everybody to know that our client (Chidi Lloyd) is in the hands of Rivers State Police Command and is not safe. We brought him from Abuja to be charged today (yesterday); his charges are ready. The prosecutor came with us from Abuja. Up till now 5:10 pm, the charge has not been filed. Lloyd was detained Tuesday, in Abuja, when he turned himself in following allegations of attempting to murder a colleague at the state Assembly, Michael Chinda, one of the five anti- Amaechi legislators who stormed the House on July 9 in a brazen attempt to impeach the Speaker.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 19:02:22 +0000
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