The State Police command has extended an invitation to Ephraim Nwuzi, a member of the Rivers House of Representatives who was captured on tape urging the murder of some Nigerians during the upcoming presidential election.
In a viral video that only partially captured the conversation, Nwuzi was seen calling for Nigerians to be shot at or murdered as a warning to other citizens, encouraging them to scatter and run for their lives.
“This is four years they have been paying all the Igbos from the council. That is not what we will do now… What we will do (sic). Let’s crack three or four of them, let’s shoot them… When we shoot two or three and kill them, the rest will run,” he said incoherently in English and one of the Igbo language dialects.
In a swift reaction, the Supervising Assistant Inspector-General of Police for the elections, AIG Abutu Yaro invited the politician for questioning.
The police command’s spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement shared via Twitter, said Nwuzi was invited to ascertain his intent and purposes in the video.
The statement reads: “AIG Abutu Yaro has assured INEC officials, INEC Ad Hoc staff, NYSC members, foreign and local observers, and voters, and all other stakeholders in the elections of adequate security before, during, and after the general election.
“He urges all contestants and political parties to exercise caution and called on the Rivers State residents to call the police at the following emergency numbers to report all suspicious activities and persons during the elections: 08032003514, 08098880134.”
The Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded Nwuzi pending the outcome of the police investigation.
The magistrate court had remanded the politician for 10 days to the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) pending the investigation of the police.
Nwuzi was remanded over offences of treasonable felony, conspiracy, inciting violence, promotion of communal crisis and conspiracy.