APC primaries: Police arrest two aspirants for allegedly refusing to step down

The police in Ebonyi State have arrested two sons of Late Senator Office Nwali, a founding father of Ebonyi State, for allegedly refusing to step down for another aspirant in the just concluded APC primaries in the state.

Rollins Offia Nwali and his brother Alfred Offia Nwali were arrested on Thursday at Onueke in the Ezza South Local Government Area of the state.

Rollins Offia Nwali, is an aspirant in the APC House of Assembly primary election and was contesting for Ezza South State Constituency seat before his arrest.

Vanguard quoted a source as saying Offia Nwali was arrested for refusing to step down for his opponent in the election.

The source said, “He was called severally from Government House to step down but he told them that as the son of one of the founding fathers of the State, the opponent should be the one to step down for him.

“He had received so many threats over the election but he refused to step down preferring to go to the field. They arrested him because they saw that he was going to win as he had a large number following him in the constituency.”

The source further claimed that his supporters, including some of the delegates, were chased out of the election venue.

Elder Brother of the duo, Oguzor Offia Nwali, confirmed the arrests of the brothers.

He also alleged that the arrest was instigated by the “powers that be” in the state who wanted him out of the way to pave the way for their preferred candidate to win.

“Yes, my two brothers were arrested and we heard they have been taken to the Police Headquarters in Abakaliki”, he said.

The police spokesperson in the state, Chris Anyanwu could not be reached for comments as his phone lines were switched off at the time of filing this report.