Concerned Akinima Youths Accuse Ahoada Police of Coercing them To Sign Undertaking
…Send SOS To Rivers CP, Gov Fubara
An indigene of Akinima in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, Miss Agnes Ebenezar and the her colleagues have accused the Ahoada Police of a brazen breach of their fundamental right by forcing them to sign an undertaking against their will instead of charging their Mather to court.
Miss Ebenezar said they were unlawfully arrested and detained by the police on Sunday, January 25, 2026 while performing a traditional rite to cleanse their land allegedly desecrated by corrupt leadership. She also said that while in detention some police officers visited the female cell and began to video them while virtually naked.
Rather than charge their case to court, Miss Agnes Ebenezar said the Divisional Police Officer [DPO] in charge of Ahoada West, Mr. Lawrence Ojo insisted she and her colleagues should sign an undertaking not to perform such rituals again in the community, an action they considered unilateral and overbearing.
She also accused the Police of acting a script written by some persons in the community who are bent on calling the shots in the area.
One of the youths, Mr. John Thomas Awari also accused the police of seizing the Akinima Youth Gong and Akinima Community Drum from their colleagues, Kennedy Dede and Collins Lucky respectively. He alleged further that the Police also seized his mobile phone during the arrest
When contacted on phone, the DPO, Ahoada West, Lawrence Ojo dismissed the allegations as false.
According to him the police was notified by the council of a group of people entering and performing some diabolic acts at the council at night and the police only responded to forestall an imminent breach of peace and order.
The matter, he said , is between the affected youths and the council and should sort out their differences, not with the police.
Mr. Ojo said the issue of signing an undertaking should be between them and the council, stressing that the police do not and cannot force anybody to do anything against their will. The Police is not the court, he noted.
On the seized items, the DPO said no phone was seized from anybody. He however admitted that the gong and the drum are in the custody of the police and will be released to them if they formally request for them. Meanwhile, Miss Agnes Ebenezar, John Thomas Awari, Kennedy Dede and Collins Lucky on behalf of their fellow youths are calling on the State Governor, His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Olugbenega Adepoju and other well meaning Rivers people to wade into the matter and prevail on the Ahoada Police DPO to refrain from intimidating and forcing them to sign an undertaking against their will and should rather charge their case to court.
