Ikwechegh and Abuwatseya
By Publisher
Kindly share:
Ikwechegh, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, lawmaker, who represents Aba North and South Federal Constituency felt offended by the request, and allegedly threatened to make the driver “disappear” without any repercussions.
Already, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has stepped into the matter and invited the lawmaker for questioning according to it’s spokesperson, Josephine Adeh.
“Regrettably, upon getting to Hon. Ikwechegh’s residence, he requested that our client bring the food into his premises, contrary to the laid down policies regulating bolt drivers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Our client politely refused the request and urged Hon. Ikwechegh to send someone to pick up the food outside the gate, as is customary with delivery services.
“In response to our client’s refusal to take the food into the premises, Hon. Ikwechegh physically assaulted our client, tore his clothes, threatened to make him “disappear” from Nigeria and repeatedly dared our client to call the Inspector General of Police, while threatening that nothing will happen to him.
“Following the assault, Hon. Ikwechegh caused our client to be detained at the Maitama Police Station and his car seized by the Investigative Police Officer. Attached herein, for ease of reference, is a video recording of the incident.
As a serving member of the Federal House of Representatives, whose primary duties include making laws for the safety of Nigerians, we find Hon. Ikwechegh’s actions were totally distasteful and a threat to our client’s safety.
“At a time when several Nigerians are increasingly being subjected to enforced disappearance by state and non-state actors, we particularly find Hon. Ikwechegh’s threat to cause our client’s disappearance as a national issue that deserves immediate investigation.
“It is in the light of the foregoing that we kindly request that you investigate the issues raised in this petition with a view to prosecuting Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh.”
Stephen Abuwatseye, the Bolt driver allegedly assaulted by Alex Ikwechegh, a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives from Abia State, has shared his harrowing experience.
In a conversation with VDM, Abuwatseye alleged that Ikwechegh threatened to pay fifty million Naira to individuals to kill him, promoting him to record the incident.
“The honourable member was not detained when he came to the station. He was calling me names. I was mute and sat at an edge. My car is still at the station.
“I brought snails for him. When I got to his estate gate, I called him and told him I was at the gate. He asked me to give the phone to the security personnel, who later directed me to his house. When I arrived at his house, I saw a man seated close to where I parked my car.
“When I got out, I greeted him twice, but he didn’t respond. So, I thought he wasn’t the one. The next thing I did was call the number on my phone, and his phone rang.
“What I heard was, ‘Are you stupid? Are you mad? Are you a fool? Bring my stuff for me!’ I was not happy with the way he spoke to me because I was just doing my professional job. So, I told him, ‘Oga, this thing you are saying to me—we have not gotten to this. Normally, I am not even supposed to bring this to you. You are supposed to come and pick it up yourself.’ That was the only thing that got him angry.
“So, he replied, ‘You are asking me to come to your car to pick my stuff? Are you okay? Do you know whom you are talking to?’ He hit me on my chest several times. I am not feeling well. He hit me on my chest repeatedly while I just looked at him. But when he became more of a threat to me, I had to record him because I didn’t go there with the intention of fighting him. If I had gone there with a different motive, I would have recorded him from the beginning.
“I started recording him when he became a threat and said he would pay fifty million naira, and they would ‘delete’ me. He was calling me all sorts of names. He claimed he would pay 50 million naira to people, and they would kill me, and nobody would say anything. When I noticed that this situation was escalating beyond what I ever expected, I quickly took out my phone and started recording.”
