Ten months after ‘Mega Tool Filling Station’ in Port Harcourt, owned by a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr Chinyere Igwe, was sealed by the Rivers State Government, the facility has been reopened.
Similarly, the CSKR Hotels and Prisc’s Bar and Suites both in Elekahia, Port Harcourt owned by a former lawmaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Jones Ogbonda, have been unsealed.
The two entertainment centres were sealed by the police early on May 29.
The owners, Igwe and Ogbonda, who are allies of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, fell out of favour with the immediate-past Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, before the 2023 general elections.
Our correspondent, who visited the Mega Tool Filling Station located along Adelabu/Ojoto Street, Mile 2 Diobu in Port Harcourt, observed that the facility had been unsealed while the security operatives, who used to man the facility, had left.
Similarly, the operatives and patrol vans stationed at the entrance of the CSKR Hotels and Priscy’s Bar and Suites had vacated the area, while normal businesses had been restored when our reporter visited on Sunday afternoon.
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Nwonyi Emeka, said he was neither aware of the sealing or reopening of the facilities, saying “I don’t discuss official matters on the telephone.”
But an associate of Igwe, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the development to our reporter on Sunday afternoon, saying, “Yes, it is true. We just received the news this morning.”
Recall that Wike had on August 20, 2002, ordered the sealing of the filling station and ordered his arrest on allegations that the he was involved in illegal oil bunkering, which the latter denied.
