Police arrest eight suspects over attack on ex-senator’s residence

The police in Imo State, south-east Nigeria, have arrested eight suspects over an attack on the residence of a former senator, Frank Ibezim, in the state.

The attack

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that some hoodlums attacked and razed the former senator’s residence on Monday night.

The incident happened in Nsu, a community in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

Mr Ibezim represented Imo North District in the Senate, between 2021 and 2023 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

Apart from Mr Ibezim’s residence, the hoodlums also attacked a study centre of the National Open University in the Nsu Community the same night.

Residents had said the same assailants carried out the two separate attacks.

Arrest

The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, confirmed the arrest of the suspects to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, did not provide details of the arrest but promised to do so later.

“We are still carrying out an investigation,” he said.

Connecting the Dots

The Monday attacks occurred days after Mr Ibezim was accused of facilitating the establishment of an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp within the National Open University campus in the Nsu Community for people from northern Nigeria.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other pro-Biafra groups criticised the alleged plan and vowed to resist it.

IPOB, in a statement earlier on Monday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, claimed the Nigerian government was trying to “infiltrate” the South-east.

IPOB, a group leading the agitation for secession of the south-east and some parts of the south-south from Nigeria, has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions.

But the separatist group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

Meanwhile, Mr Ibezim has since denied the allegation.

In a statement issued later on Monday, the former senator said the claim that he brought the federal government into the community to settle IDPs and refugees from northern Nigeria was “entirely false.”

He explained that the university had existed since October 2023 and that he only led a delegation of the federal government to assess whether the facilities could be used for skills acquisition.

“For emphasis, I must restate that there are no plans to settle IDPs, Refugees or Migrant persons at the National Open University Centre, Nsu, Ehime Mbano LGA. Any such claim is categorically false,” he stated.

“I will never be part of such a plan. The plan is for skills training for our vulnerable young people from the South-east.”