The race in Ika Federal Constituency to succeed the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has assumed a dangerous dimension.
The three aspirants from Ika North East Local Government Area of the state – Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; the former Acting Governor of the state, Hon. Sam Obi; and the Chief of Staff to Governor Uduaghan, Dr. Festus Okubor, appeared to have now sworn to ‘do-or-die’ politics.
Their loyalists are now opening fire with dangerous weapons on any perceived enemy in the council area.
The rat race took a new twist on Tuesday when a loyalist of Okubor, one Sunny Okonye, allegedly defaced the campaign bill board of Okowa mounted along the College of Education Roundabout in Agbor.
Irked by that, loyalists of Okowa, allegedly led by his Personal Assistant, one Hillary Ibegbulem, went after the said Okonye and shot him several times with pump action rifles at close range before he escaped in his car to Agbor Divisional Police Headquarters. One person allegedly died in the process.
Ibegbulem, immediately after the act was committed, allegedly returned to Abuja to attend to the schedule of his appointment.
When The Eagle Online met with the victim, still in his pool of blood, at the police station in Agbor, he recounted how Ibegbulem, with his cohorts double-crossed his car after he left Emuo Youths Club at 20, Isele Street in Boji-Boji, brandishing their rifles.
He said: “Hillary instructed the other three boys who double crossed my car with their Mezedez Benz, to kill me.
“I saw him telling them with words and action to kill me.
“It was at that point they started shooting me, but because I was already in my car, in pains, I managed to drive with one hand before I escaped to the nearby police station.”
The Eagle Online recalled how similar occurrence ravaged the locality about a month ago when one Friday Okoh, aka Hero, was chased by opposing political thugs with guns before his Honda Accord car somersaulted and he escaped being killed.
The matter is still pending at the police station in the council area before the recent occurrence.
When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer in the locality, Dike Albert, a Superintendent of Police, said: “I am not competent to talk on the issue.”
Albert however said the matter was on the verge of being transferred to the Command Headquarters in Asaba, the state capital, for further investigation.
Okubor, who has stopped receiving and signing memos emanating from his boss, is a new entrant into the governorship race, having pulled enough weight, thereby sending fears into the camps of others, including that of Okowa.
Our earlier story: One person is feared to have died on Tuesday during a fracas in Delta State.
The fracas occurred in Agbor, Ika Local Government Area of the state.
It was said to have been triggered by the race to succeed the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
The victim was reportedly shot dead during a shootout.