The Deputy Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Leyii Kwanee, has alleged that the leader of the House, Hon. Chidi Lloyd, who is being detained by the state police command is being tortured, and that he has started going blind.
Kwanee, who spoke to reporters in Port Harcourt, said there was need to respect democracy in the state.
He said: “As I speak with you now, he is being held up at the State CID, by the same police authorities, under the leadership of Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu. Hon. Chidi Lloyd was blindfolded, tortured and teargas was sprayed all over him.
“We have been refused access to him. We have just been informed that Hon. Chidi Lloyd is going blind, occasioned by the teargas that was spayed all over him, particularly in his eyes. Medical help has also been refused him.
“Today (yesterday), the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers have met in all the churches. We have been praying, seeking God’s intervention. We all know that Nigerians are prayerful people. We are also not losing sight of the fact that Nigeria is a signatory to a lot of conventions and treaties bordering on human rights.
“We are assembling a team of lawyers, who will look at the possibility of putting together all the human rights abuses that have been inflicted on Hon. Chidi Lloyd, the leader of the 7th Assembly, with a view that if justice cannot be got on the shores of Nigeria, human rights transcend borders.
“We may seek justice, to ensuring that Hon. Chidi Lloyd’s rights are protected and his cause is also ventilated, probably in the International Court of Justice, if it comes to that. The Speaker (who is in Namibia for conference of Commonwealth Parliamentarians) will also draw the attention of the Commonwealth to the ugly development.”
