SAN FRANCISCO, January 05, 2014, (THEWILL) – The Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon.Leyii Kwanee, has cautioned the police to stop overheating the polity.
Speaking to newsmen weekend at the International Airport, Omagwa, PortHarcourt shortly on arrival from Lagos where he went for a church retreat, the Deputy Speaker said it was wrong for the police to arrest the leader of the Assembly, Hon.Chidi Lloyd, in a case of accident where he was not the driver but a passenger.
Kwanee said there is no traffic offence that makes a passenger culpable that even if there is a case of manslaughter or reckless driving, it is the driver that may be the offender and not the leader.
He wondered what aspect of the law that the police was invoking if not a show of partisanship and vendetta.
“By my training as a lawyer,I know that sections 36(5) of the 1999 constitution guarantees presumption of innocence in favour of an accused. Facts made available to me show that the leader who is still physically weak was not driving the car as at the time the accident occurred. That the leader was himself injured in the unfortunate accident. That the driver of the vehicle had since reported to the police and cooperating with the police,” he stated, saying ” The question is why arrest the leader when he was not the driver of the vehicle.”
Kwanee, who is also the chairman,Parliamentary Exchange and Mentorship Programme of the Pan African Parliament,said it was because of this reason that well-meaning Nigerians have been calling for the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police,Mr. Joseph Mbu.
The Deputy Speaker further said that the development was a calculated attempt to drag the State governor’s name into the mud and demonise the leader of the Assembly.
He also said the development portends danger for the nation’s democracy and advice the police to be professional and shun any attempt by anyone to use them to cause disorder and chaos in Rivers State in order to declare a state of emergency which, according to him, is intended to give the Peopes Democratic Party (PDP) an advantage before the 2015 general elections.
“The police should not overheat the polity with any sensational report likely to mislead the good people of Rivers State,” he cautioned.
