Armed police officers early on Monday morning cordoned off two entertainment venues, the CSKR Hotels and Priscy’s Bar and Suites, both in Elekahia, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Security personnel attacked the two locked sites in a commando-style invasion and forcibly ordered all employees and residents to leave.
Hon. Jones Ogbonda, a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, is the owner of the companies.
Ogbonda is said to be an ardent supporter of Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
The heavily armed, all-black, uniformed assailants are reportedly from the state police command’s C4i Intelligence squad.
At about 6:55 am on Monday, our correspondent went to a restricted location (Priscy’s Bar and Suites), where he saw two white Hilux patrol vans parked with heavily armed, stern-looking officers guarding the door.
Ogbonda corroborated the occurrence in a voice message supplied to our correspondent, claiming that the facility management called him in the early hours of Monday to break the bad news.
He said, “On May 29, 2023, at around 2:55 am, my phone rang, and my manager alerted me that guys from the C4i tactical unit of the Nigerian Police Force drove into the Priscy’s Bar and Suites in Elekahia in roughly five patrol vans.
“They told those inside the rooms, people inside the club and people working at the outside bar to leave, saying they had orders from the governor to lock the premises.
They are still in the building as I speak.
“I also received a call from the management of the CSKR hotels at the Elekahia Housing Estate informing me that members of the C4i of the Nigerian Police were at the hotel searching every room while evicting customers and staff.
That they took up residence on His Excellency’s orders, that’s sad.
According to our source, the Priscy’s Bar and Suites was walled off on August 19, 2022, and security personnel took several employees and guests into custody.
Before being given permission to reopen, the bar was kept closed for 11 days.
Grace Iringe-Koko, a spokeswoman for the State Police Command, promised to get in touch with the Elekahia Police Division and get back to our reporter.
As of the moment, this report was submitted, she still needed to do so.
