Hector Ekeakita, Chief Security Officer of Ahoada East Local Government Area in Rivers State, has strongly denied allegations that he sponsored and led hoodlums to assault the area’s sole administrator, Goodluck Iheamnacho.
The controversy began Friday when a resignation letter allegedly signed by Iheamnacho surfaced online, dated June 20 and addressed to Rivers State sole administrator Ibok-Ete Ibas. Shortly after, a video showing a man resembling Iheamnacho being beaten by several individuals went viral on social media.
However, in a subsequent interview with Nigeria Info 92.3 FM Port Harcourt, Iheamnacho disavowed the resignation letter, claiming hoodlums had forced him to sign it during an attack at his office.
Rivers State Police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko stated that Ekeakita and the council’s Chief of Staff led 30 hoodlums to Iheamnacho’s office, where they assaulted him and coerced him into signing the resignation letter. Both officials have been invited for police questioning.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ Monday, Ekeakita dismissed the allegations as impossible, questioning why he would attack his own superior.
“As the CSO of the LGA, why will I do such a thing? Why would I venture into carrying hoodlums to attack the man I’m working with?” Ekeakita asked.
According to Ekeakita, he was in his office Friday when he heard commotion from the administrator’s office. Upon investigating, he said Iheamnacho told him the matter was between himself and his political appointees whom he hadn’t paid since May.
“He asked me to shut the door that the matter is between him and his political appointees, who he has not paid since May. I had to go back to my office to continue my daily activities,” Ekeakita explained.
The CSO claimed that when the noise became excessive, he attempted to contact police but couldn’t get through. “When the noise was too much I tried to call the police but the line was not going through,” he said.
Ekeakita maintained he doesn’t know whether the administrator was actually attacked, insisting that information about hoodlums came from police statements rather than Iheamnacho himself.
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