Ritchie Etonye, an aide to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday said the police ransacked his house located at Brass Road Yenagoa, following a tip-off that he stockpiled arms and cash.

He in a statement by his lawyer, Doueyi Dominic Fiderikumo, that a team of 50 policemen conducted the search but found nothing.

Fiderikumo in the statement said Etonye had briefed him and asked him to sue the Nigeria Police and an online medium, Sahara Reporters, for damages.

Narrating the incident, the statement said: “Our client’s home was invaded and ransacked on Wednesday, August 24, 2017 by a team policemen numbering 50 without probable cause, and in the process, several valuable property worth were damaged.

“Mr. Ritchie Etonye was not in Bayelsa when the incident occurred. Indeed, he travelled out of the state with the governor on official assignment.

“Upon inquiry, he found out that the police were acting on a false tip-off that he had stockpiled arms and cash in his residence. After several hours of the operation, the police did not find anything incriminating and they left thoroughly disappointed.

“Expectedly, as part of the plot to incite the unsuspecting public against the government and his principal, some disgruntled politicians have twisted and concocted their usual falsehood from the police invasion of his house as has been widely reported by Sahara Reporters.

“The invasion and the online report have caused untoward embarrassment to our client and were intended to tarnish his hard-earned image as a reputable chartered accountant. Our client is not a politician and should not be dragged to the arena of politics.

“Consequently, our client has instructed us to sue the Nigerian police and Sahara Reporters for damages