Suspected political thugs have razed the residence of the All Progressives Congress National Assembly candidate for Ikwerre/Emuoha Federal Constituency, Ezemonye Ezekiel-Amadi, in Omerelu, Rivers State.
The incident took place on Saturday in Omerelu, his country home in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that the suspected arsonists invaded the area and broke into his residence, before setting fire to it.
As the fire started, some community youths were said to have intercepted some of the assailants and arrested them.
Soon afterwards, the youths raced to the residence of the senatorial hopeful.
In a video he personally shared on the incident, Ekekiel-Amadi said most of the rooms were burnt, saying the assailants broke the glass and set fire to the curtains.
In the video, all the louvre glasses in the apartment were destroyed while chairs, tables, ceiling and electronics were burnt.
He stated that one of the assailants caught by youths in the community told him how he broke the louvre glasses and set fire to the curtains.
Soon after the arrest of one of the assailants, he said the community youths broke into his house and tried to stop the fire from spreading.
He stated, “This is my aunty’s room, this is the ceiling, the air conditioner. But for the intervention of my relatives and community youths.
“They had to break into the place to have access so that they could put out the fire. Most of the places are close to the window because what the boy who was apprehended did was that he broke the glass and then lit the curtains.”
The spokesman for the party in the state, Darlington Nwauju, said the incident was masterminded by a suspected PDP arsonist.
Nwauju said the incident has justified the party’s call for the police to increase surveillance on APC leaders and candidates in the state, describing the attack as one too many.
He stated, “We want to warn that these attacks must stop because our party members are not expected to be on the receiving end at every election circle.
“It is clear that security agents are not capable of covering the state and cannot mop up all criminal elements and hired thugs acting as predators on APC members.
“We commend the youths of Omerelu community for their intervention and arresting the arsonist who perpetrated this dastardly act.”
Continuing, Nwauju said, “The APC will be watching to ensure that justice is not only done but is seen to be done to serve as a deterrent to other arsonists.
“And to other political predators who do not want the APC and indeed other opposition parties to have a breathing space to campaign and operate in Rivers State.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she would find out and get back to our reporter.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report on Sunday afternoon.
