…As Police Begins Investigation
By: Felix Ikpotor
A prime suspect in the case of assault on Mr Goodluck Iheanachor, the Sole Administrator of Ahoada East Council in Rivers State, has denied having a hand in the act.
Mr Iheanachor was on 20th June, 2025, attacked by suspected hoodlums in the council secretariat, forcing him to signed a purported resignation document.
Also attacked in the incident was the council secretary, Umegbewe Alabi.
However, the prime suspect and Chief Security Officer, CSO, of the council, Mr Hector Ekeakita, said he was not involved in the beating of the council officials.
Ekeakita in a voice note sent to journalists also said those who attacked the council officials were youths of the LGA and not hoodlums as alleged by the council SOLAD.
He said the youths had come to questions the chairman’s ultilisation of the council’s allocation before the fracas occured.
He said: “I did not carry hoodlums to attack Mr Goodluck Iheanachor. What happened was that it was the youths of the LGA that visited him to ask him why he has refused to takecare of the council in terms of sanitation, payment of security, underpayment of political appointees. So as a CSO, I only saw people who entered the chairman’s office and also came out. Whoever is mentioning my name is just trying to allege”.
He said since he assume duty as CSO, the council area has been calm.
Ekeakita accused the Ahoada East SOLAD of arrogance and also hobnobbing with members of the Simplified Movement, a group loyal to suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
“The LGA has been quite since I assumed office as CSO. If he’s saying that I came with 30 hoodlums and all that, he should be able to say how I was able to accommodate them.
“He is arrogant and he doesn’t respect any person. He should be able to tell the police the truth because I was not in the picture,” he stated.
The prime suspect further accused Iheanachor of misappropriating council funds.
“April allocation was N800m, he declared N700m, May allocation was N600m, outside the Excess Crude revenue of over N100m, he declared N500m. Who is deceiving who? Political appointees underpaid, wagebill hiked,” Ekeakita alleged.
He called on the police to look carefully into the matter and exonerate him.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command has invited Mr Ekeakita alongside Chief of Staff of the council and all those involved to report the Command’s headquarters for questioning.
The through a statement by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko said the Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju alongside other
heads of security agencies have visited the scene and directed further investigation.
Iringe-Koko said: “The Rivers State Police Command is aware and deeply disturbed by the heinous attack on the Sole Administrator of Ahoada-East Local Government Area, Hon. Goodluck Iheanachor. On 20th. June, 2025, at about 1340hrs, a group of hoodlums numbering about thirty, led by Mr Hector Ekeakita, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the sole administrator respectively stormed the Council Secretariat and attack him.
“During the attack, the hoodlums assaulted the Sole Administrator, stole his mobile phones, forced him to sign a letter purporting his resignation, carted away vital documents, including official and personal documents from his office. The Administrator is currently undergoing medical treatment due to the injuries sustained during the violent attack. He is in stable condition.
“The Rivers State Police Command unequivocally condemns this reprehensible act and has taken swift action. The Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga A. Adepoju, after visiting the scene of the attack with heads of other sister security agency in the state, has directed the Chief Security Officer (CSO), Chief Of Staff (COS), and all those involved in this action to report to the Police State Headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt for questioning”.
