APC governorship candidate denies attack on PDP supporters, Ebonyi elders react

The Ebonyi State Elders Council and the Divine Mandate Campaign Organization have condemned the alleged attack on members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the destruction of their properties on Friday allegedly to stall their campaign in Afikpo South Local Government Area by alleged All Progressives Congress thugs.
At a press conference in Abakaliki on Saturday, the group described the attack as a gross infringement on the people’s right to freedom of association and political affiliation.
They observed that the political atmosphere in the State has been calm while the APC has been carrying out their campaigns even in Governor David Umahi’s hometown, Uburu, without molestations and expressed worry that the governorship candidate of the APC, Sonni Ogbuorji, should be responsible for such acts of “instigation of crises and mayhem that threaten the peace and tranquility of the State”.
In a statement presented by their spokesman and Director-General of the Divine Mandate Campaign Organization, Engr. Fidelis Nwankwo, the group also condemned the several defacing and burning of PDP/Umahi’s billborads, especially around the Abakaliki capital, prior to the APC/President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign visit to the State, late last month.
They further expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of security agencies over the incidents and urged them to rise to the challenge in order to prove their operational objectivity and professionalism.
Nwankwo stated: “We condemn without reservation the violent approach that has been adopted by the APC in Ebonyi State to what should be a contest ideas and not of sticks, stones, cutlasses and guns.
“The violent destruction of Posters and Billboards across the State by APX thugs, with particular concentration within the Abakaliki Capital Territory is a matter of concern to the Elders of this State
“We warn that the provocations must end forthwith to avoid plunging our society into unnecessary state of anarchy.”
The elders frowned at the gloating by APC that the results of the forthcoming elections would be written prior to conclusion of polls with votes running into hundreds of thousands allocated to them.
They therefore concluded: “We must issue a stern warning to both the INEC and Security Agencies that the perpetration of such electoral fraud will be met with total resistance in Ebonyi State.”
Meanwhile Ogbuorji has denied masterminding the recent attack.
Reacting on the incident when contacted by journalists on Saturday, Ogbuorji’s Director of Media and Publicity, Ikenna Emewu, described the allegation as a clear manifestation of withered conscience.
Emewu rather alleged that it was some PDP faithful in the community who were destroying Ogbuorji’s billboards and replacing them with those of Umahi to boost their rally in the area.
The development, according to him, angered the youths of the area who embarked on reprisal.
Emewu, who insisted that Ogbuorji, his principal, was away from the State on that day, also accused one of Umahi’s female Commissioners from the area as being among those who supervised the destruction of the APC billboards and their replacement.
Emewu explained further: “The reason they said that was because they were not born with conscience.
“I can now understand why this state is marooned under their government because they have no conscience.
“There was an issue in Edda yesterday, Ebunwana precisely, the village of Ogbuorji.
“The people of Ebunwana woke up and saw that one coordinator from Igbara, a nearby village to Ebunwana, had mobilised their touts to remove every sign of Ogbuorji’s campaign because Umahi was coming to Ebunwana.
“There is another person from Edda, a female commissioner who joined in enforcing that everywhere they removed Ogbuorji’s poster or billboard they replaced it with that of Umahi.
“For the records, Ogbuorji was not in Ebunwana yesterday morning when this incident happened.
“So, the youths woke up and saw this; not only that every sign of Ogbuoji’s campaign was removed.
“They saw these people led by one coordinator and a woman trying to replace everywhere they removed Ogbuoji’s posters and billboards with those of Umahi.
“The youths in Union resisted them.”
The Thursday incident has been confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Loveth Odah, who also said two suspects had been arrested.
Odah said trouble started when the supporters of the two political parties confronted themselves over counter accusations involving destruction of billboards belonging to the two parties.