Wike orders arrest of Rep member gunning for his job

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the police command in the state to arrest Farah Dagogo, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Bonny-Degema Federal Constituency, wanted for allegedly recruiting cultists to attack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) office in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

But Dagogo, a governorship aspirant in the state has denied the allegations. He claimed Wike’s order was a ploy to disrupt his governorship ambition.

It was learned that some party members had protested the alleged exclusion of some persons at the state secretariat on Aba Expressway, after PDP national secretariat officials had arrived in Port Harcourt to commence the vetting of Senate candidates.

During the protest, a team of police officers reportedly arrived on the site, fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd, and arrested a few people.

Wike authorized the state police command to arrest Dagogo in a statement issued by his media adviser, Kelvin Ebiri.

The statement read, “The governor has hereby directed the Rivers State Police Command to arrest Farah Dagogo for hiring cultists who stormed the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt, and disrupted the screening of aspirants for various elective positions.

“The police must as a matter of urgency arrest Farah Dagogo, wherever he is, and must be made to face prosecution.

“Already, some of the hoodlums hired by Farah Dagogo have been arrested and will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

Wike and the Rivers State Police Command, on the other hand, were chastised by Dagogo for branding him a cultist and proclaiming him wanted.

In a statement, Dagogo’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Lawal, urged the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to advise Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Friday Eboka, to disregard Wike’s directive.

The move against Dagogo, according to Lawal, was made to halt his governorship ambitions on the PDP platform.

“Farah Dagogo is not a cultist and did not hire, send or procure anyone to disrupt the screening exercise.

“Farah Dagogo was never at the party secretariat where the screening process took place. He is a governorship aspirant and not national or state assembly aspirant,” Lawal noted.