Political violence: Police arrest suspect over alleged attack of APC defectors in Bayelsa

…”its a frame up”—suspects accuses PDP

The police at the weekend arrested a suspected political thug for allegedly attacking members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

The suspect identified as Clement Atonyefa, popularly known on the Island as Black Arrow, was reportedly held after he tried unsuccessfully to shoot at some of the persons that defected to the PDP.

It was gathered that the suspect accosted some of the defectors on their way home after a brief ceremony organised by the Brass Caretaker Chairman, Victor Isaiah, to receive them.

But his loaded pistol was said to have malfunctioned when he attempted to pull the trigger and in the process he was overpowered by the defected youths with assistance from the Brass volunteers.

Atonyefa, who was immediately taken to the police station in Brass, is said to be a member of the APC. The suspect and the pistol were reportedly handed over to the police in Brass for interrogations and further investigations.

He was said to have been transferred to the state Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Another version of the incident stated that though some miscreants attltacked the defectors after being paid by the Council Boss, Hon. Victor Isiah, the arrested suspect walked into the scene when a desperate search were being made for the culprits

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Butswat Asinim confirmed the arrest but said it was a case of illegal possession of firearms.

Asinim said youths from the community brought Atonyefa to the police station in Brass with a pistol, which they said they recovered from him.

He said though the suspect claimed that the riffle was planted on him by the youths, the police had commenced investigations to determine the truth.

He said: “The suspect was brought to the state headquarters and the police have commenced investigations into the matter. Those, who handed him over to the police said they found him with the pistol.

“But the suspect said the gun was planted on him. We have commenced investigations to determine the truth. It is only investigations that will determine whether the suspect is culpable or not”.

Comments

comments