From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Abia State Working Committee (SWC) of the Labour Party (LP) has alleged that Hon. Ceekay Igara, its former State Chairman and currently, South East Vice Chairman was arrested on Saturday in Aba over impersonation and extortion.
It was reported that masked police men disrupted an LP’s meeting in a hotel on Saturday in Aba.
In a statement, Emmanuel Oti, Acting State Chairman of the Party in the State said Igara’s arrest was as a result of petition Abia LP wrote to the Police against Igara when he was the state chairman and others over their alleged acts of extortion and impersonation of the state Chapter of the Party.
The Acting LP Chairman said that Igara, by the Constitution of the party has no legal right to usurp or impersonate the office of the state chairman, having ceased to be the state chairman after he was elected the South East National Vice Chairman in March 2024.
The Abia LP also stated that no law court has invalidated the existence or activities of the Acting State Chairman, Emmanuel Oti and his Executive members, hence it was wrong and illegal for Igara to impersonate the Chairman and his executive by carrying out their legally recognised functions without their consent or approval.
The Abia LP also alleged that the party is aware that following the petition they sent against Igara, he had been invited by the police which he refused to honour, hence Saturday’s incident.
“While we recognise and respect the judgement which recognised Julius Abure as the National Chairman, Abure’s faction which Igara is part of has no right to flagrantly ignore the appeal and the motion for stay of execution that had been duly filed against them.
by purportedly dissolving and imposing a new Caretaker leadership on the Abia State Chapter, against the provisions of the law and the Constitution of our party.
“Again, the Abia State Chapter of Labour Party had gone further to secure a validly issued order of court which restrains Abure, Igara and others from those activities which prompted our petition to the Police.
“If we could recognise and respect the judgment of the court on Abure, we do not see any reason why Abure and Igara should ignore the Appeal and Motion for a Stay of Execution filed in the same court. Why should Abure and Igara choose the court orders to obey or ignore?”
The leadership of LP has however decried the arrest of Igara, by the Nigerian police on the alleged orders of Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti.
Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, said in a press statement that Igara was arrested while holding a party meeting with some of the party leaders when they were surrounded by the police and whisked away without any warrant.
Meanwhile, the Abia State Police Command said it acted based on a written petition from the Labour Party’s Acting State Chairman against Mr. Ceekey Igara and three others for alleged impersonation, obtaining by false pretense, and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
The command’s PPRO, Maureen Chinaka in a statement said detectives from the Command invited Igara to the Command Headquarters, took his statement, and released him the same day.
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