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Suspected political thugs on Friday night disrupted a live broadcast by Arise News at the Londa Hotel in the Orazi axis of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, South-south Nigeria.
Arise News, a television station, stated this on X on Saturday morning but did not disclose the identities of suspected thugs.
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The station reported that its crew was conducting a live interview with Leloonu Nwibubasa, a former commissioner for Employment Generation and Empowerment in Rivers, regarding the current political crisis in the state.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that some armed thugs stormed the hotel premises at about 9:15 p.m., and forced their way into rooms and seized mobile phones from the terrified guests and staff.
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The station explained that the thugs moved through the hotel, chanting in a local dialect while searching specifically for Mr Nwibubasa and the Arise News crew.
“Upon locating the interview set, the thugs threatened the crew and the former commissioner, forcing an immediate end to the broadcast.
Arise News said that the thugs fled with high-end equipment, including a Sony Z280 camera, an industrial tripod, wireless microphones, and various accessories.
The station further said that its crew had before the incident, spent the earlier part of the day on Friday, covering an event for the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in Omoku, the headquarters of the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state.
Arise News added that the police in Rivers State had arrived at the hotel for investigation.
The station said Mr Nwibubasa has also condemned the incident, describing it as a “threat to democracy”.
Fresh political tension in Rivers
In the wake of the recent political tension in Rivers, Mr Fubara has faced criticism and accusations from Mr Wike and his allies in the Rivers House of Assembly in recent times.
Last month, for instance, the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, slammed the governor, accusing him of neglecting public primary and secondary schools in the state.
Mr Amaewhule had also accused Governor Fubara of “deliberately lying” about his engagement with the state’s lawmakers.
The speaker had accused Mr Fubara of lying when he said he had not met with them. The lawmakers claimed that they met twice with the governor and other leaders.
He also claimed the governor had refused to honour the terms of the peace deal brokered by President Tinubu.
Similarly, on 30 December, the Rivers lawmakers announced that they would return the sum of N100,000 credited to their personal bank accounts by the state government, accusing Mr Fubara of authorising the payment without approval from the assembly.
The lawmakers stated that they planned to take immediate steps to return the money to the Rivers State Government’s account upon discovering the transfers.
The Rivers State Government, however, clarified that the fund was a Christmas bonus which was paid to all civil and public office holders in the state, without discrimination.
Background
Before now, a political crisis in Rivers, triggered by the feud between Governor Fubara and Mr Wike resulted in the declaration of emergency rule in the state by president Tinubu in March 2025.
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Mr Fubara, who was suspended by Mr Tinubu for six months alongside all elected officials in the state, only returned to office in September of that year after the president declared an end to the emergency rule.
This was after President Tinubu brokered a second peace deal in June between Messrs Fubara and Wike alongside their supporters.
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