By Abiola Olawale
Prominent rights activist Martin Vincent Otse, widely recognized as VeryDarkMan, has submitted a formal petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, regarding allegations of assault by House of Representatives member, Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, against a Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya in Abuja.
VeryDarkMan, in the petition dated October 28, 2024, and filed by his lawyer, Marvin Omorogbe of the Deji Adeyanju & Partners law firm, accused Ikwechegh, the lawmaker representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency of Abia State at the House of Representatives of threatening to make the driver “disappear” without a trace.
The activist also accused the lawmaker of grievous assault, abuse of power, attempted murder and threat to life, in his actions against the bolt driver.
The petition also called for an investigation into the matter and possible prosecution for assaulting the bolt driver.
The petition reads in parts: “Our client is a bolt driver and a hard-working Nigerian citizen. It is our client’s information that at about 9 pm on October 27, 2024, he was contracted by a vendor to deliver some food to Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh at his residence in Maitama, Abuja.
“Regrettably, upon getting to Hon. Ikwechegh’s residence, he requested that our client bring the food into his premises, contrary to the laid down policies regulating bolt drivers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Our client politely refused the request and urged Hon. Ikwechegh to send someone to pick up the food outside the gate, as is customary with delivery services.
“In response to our client’s refusal to take the food into the premises, Hon. Ikwechegh physically assaulted our client, tore his clothes, threatened to make him “disappear” from Nigeria and repeatedly dared our client to call the Inspector General of Police, while threatening that nothing will happen to him.
“Following the assault, Hon. Ikwechegh caused our client to be detained at the Maitama Police Station and his car seized by the Investigative Police Officer. Attached herein for ease of reference, is a video recording of the incident.
As a serving member of the Federal House of Representatives, whose primary duties include making laws for the safety of Nigerians, we find Hon. Ikwechegh’s actions were distasteful and a threat to our client’s safety.
“At a time when several Nigerians are increasingly being subjected to enforced disappearance by state and non-state actors, we particularly find Hon. Ikwechegh’s threat to cause our client’s disappearance as a national issue that deserves immediate investigation.
“It is in the light of the foregoing that we kindly request that you cause an investigation into the issues raised in this petition to prosecute Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh.”
This comes after the lawmaker was filmed purportedly assaulting Abuwatseya in a viral video.
The clip showed a man identified as Ikwechegh hurling invective and expletives at Abuwatseya while threatening to “make him disappear”.
A voice seemingly belonging to the lawmaker had said: “Do you know where you are? Do you know who you are talking to? Look at this monkey. I’m a member of the house of representatives. I slapped you. Call the inspector-general of police.”
