Ebonyi State Police Command says the Labour Party Senatorial Candidate, for Ebonyi South Senatorial District, in the 2023 general election, Linus Okorie, was never abducted but rather was arrested by the state government run Ebubeagu Security outfit, over Drug-related matters and several other offences.
This is contained in a statement by the command’s spokesman, SP Chris Anyanwu.
Anyanwu says following the reported abduction of the former member of House of Representatives, the police command swung into action and later traced the former federal lawmaker to the head office of the Ebubeagu security outfit at the Old Government House, Abakaliki.
“Police detectives were briefed on why he was arrested which includes; his activities and utterances that incited and provoked the violence that engulfed Onicha LGA which led to suspected IPOB/ESN operatives or unknown gunmen to unleash mayhem in the area, leaving seven (7) persons dead at the end of that fracas. Hence, the case has now been taken over by the Police Command for a scrupulous investigation” Anyanwu, notes.
The police spokesman, further notes that other reasons Okorie was arrested include the making of series of false allegations against the Government of Ebonyi State and the Police Command in his social media handles, as well as his pending case on drug related-offence.
“It is also pertinent to mention that Honourable Linus Abaa Okorie has a pending case in which he was implicated in a drug-related offence where the suspects purported to be his agents were arrested for Hard drug sales and use at his City Hub Inn, Mile 50, Abakaliki. Case was later transfered to the NDLEA for further necessary actions”,
the statement reads in part.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the NDLEA in the state, Patrick Eleri, told ait.live that he was not aware of Linus Okorie’s involvement in drug related offence.
Meanwhile, the youths of Onicha Igboeze, the community where Okorie hails from, in the early hours of Monday, staged a protest in the area, demanding the immediate release of their kinsman.
Editor Paul Akhagbemhe
