The Amanyanabo of Bille in Degema, Rivers State, HRH King Igbikingeri Ngowari Cornelius, Agbaniye Jike XVIII, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of military officers who attacked his palace and whisked him away on Wednesday.
The King in a statement when the Chairman of Degema LGA, Hon. Micheal John Williams visited him at his palace on Thursday, said he was still in shock over the incident.
According to him, the armed men ordered him around and took him to the waterfront after ransacking his home.
He said they referred to him as a stupid King and threatened to submerge him in the river, adding that he had never been so humiliated in his entire life.
He described the actions of the military men as unprofessional and called for proper investigation into the matter.
Part of his statement reads,
When I heard the sporadic gunshots in the community, as a traditional ruler, I came out and sat by the entrance of my palace, wondering what was going on.
After a while, I heard a knock on the door and I asked them to come inside, but they refused and rather asked me to come out and meet them, which was untraditional and sacrilegious.
However, when I went out to meet them, they started interrogating me, requesting to know the people that were in my palace and I told them that they were my family members and domestic staff, but the unknown soldiers went in and ransacked my entire house, in search of who or whatever they were looking for.
At the end of the day, they took my personal aide away and commanded me to follow them to the waterfront.
When we got there, I was reduced to a commoner with one of them calling me a stupid King, threatening to slap me and put me in the river.
I was ordered to produce the culprits and given a 48hrs ultimatum, which expires today, to produce them. I don’t know what they will do to us after today.
“Even the 29 Battalion officers that came to intervene were almost attacked. I have never seen a situation where Army attack their fellow Army.
