People of Odiemerenyi Community in Ahoada East LGA, Rivers State, on Monday staged a peaceful protest against the attack carried out by suspected thugs on Goodluck Iheanacho, the sole administrator of the LGA.

Iheanacho resigned his appointment, in a letter addressed to Ete Ibok-Ibas, the sole administrator of Rivers State, but later dismissed his resignation, explaining that he was forced to resign by thugs who beat him in his office.

The protesters, who carried placards accused the thugs of plotting to cause confusion in the council area by attacking Iheanacho and forcing him to resign his appointment, describing their conduct as unacceptable.

They said that the thugs who forced the administrator of Ahoada East to resign his appointment wanted to hijack the administration of the council for selfish reasons.

The protesters, including youths, men and women said that since his appointment as the council administrator, Iheanacho has performed creditably by taking key steps to life the council and improve the life of the people.

The protesters called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those involved in the assault, urging the police to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

One of the protesters, a middle aged man said: “We are standing in solidarity with our son, Goodluck Iheanacho, who was attacked by hoodlums in his office. We totally condemn what they did to him, because it is unjustifiable.

“We know him very well as a responsible man, who has brought honour to our community. We cannot just allow people who don’t mean well for our local government area to attempt to tarnish his image.”