Wike insists on prosecution of former leader of Rivers House Assembly, Chidi Lloyd

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has insisted that the state government would see to the conclusion of the prosecution of the former leader of the State House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd over an alleged attempted murder of a member of the State Assembly, Mr Michael Chinda.

Wike at the weekend directed the re-appointed Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr Emmanuel Aguma (SAN) to ensure the conclusive prosecution of the former majority leader.

He also directed the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice to ensure the conclusive prosecution of Mr Ojukaye Flag Amachree, who is standing trial for the murder of a citizen of Asari Toru Local Government Area during one of the rerun elections.

Lloyd had sometime in July 2013 during a fracas that broke out on the floor of the State House of Assembly struck his colleague, Michael Chinda with the House mace, an attack which left Chinda critically injured and hospitalised in a hospital abroad for weeks.

Lloyd and Amachree are chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and strong allies of the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, who has been locked in a war of attrition with Governor Wike since 2013, after the latter backed Felix Obouh, state chairman of the PDP to snatch the PDP leadership under the now late Godspower Ake through an Abuja High Court.

Wike in giving the directive to the new Attorney-General stated that anybody who commits crime in the state must face the full weight of the law.

He spoke on Saturday after swearing-in the reappointed State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and 13 Caretaker Committee Chairman of Local Government Areas.

He said: “The attempted murder of a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly must be conclusively prosecuted by the office of the Attorney-General.

“Also, the person involved in the murder of a citizen of Asari Toru Local Government Area during the rerun elections must be conclusively prosecuted. Nobody is above the law.

“I don’t know how the person who was almost killed on the floor of the Rivers House of Assembly will feel seeing his assailant moving around freely? How will the family of the murdered Asari Toru Local Government Area citizen feel knowing that the alleged murder suspect is roaming freely without conclusive prosecution.”

The governor charged the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice to ensure that all the victims get justice in accordance with the tenets of the law charging the Attorney General to sustain the enthronement of the rule of law to avoid a situation where people resort to self-help on account that the state cannot prosecute criminal offenders.

On the newly sworn-in chairmen of Caretaker Committees of Local Government Areas, Governor Wike advised them to concentrate on the maintenance of security and environmental sanitation.

He advised the local government chairmen to work with security agencies to address security challenges in their respective local government areas.

He warned them against the mismanagement of council funds for personal benefits or to influence top government officials or their families.