By RismadarVoice Reporters
January 3, 2026
Suspected political thugs on Friday night invaded a popular hotel in the Orazi axis of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, disrupting a live television interview being conducted by Arise TV.
The incident occurred while an Arise TV crew was hosting a live interview with a former Commissioner for Employment Generation and Empowerment, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, who was speaking on the political situation in the state.
Eyewitnesses said the assailants, who were reportedly armed, stormed the hotel at about 9:15p.m., breaking into rooms, allegedly searching for the former commissioner and the Arise TV cameraman.
“They were chanting in their local language, forcing doors open and collecting people’s phones. Hotel workers and guests started running helter-skelter,” an eyewitness said.
It was learnt that the assailants later traced the location of the live interview, where they allegedly threatened Dr. Nwibubasa and members of the Arise TV crew, forcing the interview to be abruptly discontinued.
A reporter with the Arise TV crew said he received a distress call from his colleague and immediately alerted the police.
“I called the police control room, reached out to colleagues. When I arrived at the hotel, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area was already on ground with his men,” he said.
According to him, the police, in collaboration with the hotel management, ensured that the former commissioner and the journalists were safely escorted out of the hotel, taken to the Kala Police Station, where their statements were taken.
Arise TV cameraman identified as Promise, said the assailants seized his Sony Canada Z280 camera, an industrial tripod, wireless microphones, and other broadcast accessories.
“I had just finished filing an earlier report and had commenced a live interview on News Night with the former commissioner when two men suddenly stormed the venue, disrupted the broadcast,” he said.
Promise added that the attackers made threatening remarks, but fled upon sighting the police who responded to distress calls.
When contacted, Dr. Nwibubasa confirmed that he was safe, condemned the incident, describing it as a threat to democratic values.
“I was already rounding off the interview; speaking about the 2027 general elections. This is already showing signs of what may happen. They were breaking down doors, looking for me in a free society. This is unhealthy for democracy,” he said.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, were unsuccessful, as she did not respond to phone calls, or a reply to text messages as of the time of filing this report on Saturday morning.
