Grace Egbo
The All Progressive Congress (APC) has accused the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) of arranging the attack on its governorship candidate convoy, Prof Benard Ifeanyichukwu Odo, just to discredit Ebubeagu security outfit and Ebonyi State.
APC Publicity Secretary in the State Ogbuatu Chidi Simbad disclosed this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Abakaliki While sympathizing with the families of the deceased and the injured.
Ogbuatu, the call on security agencies to go all out and unravel the attackers and their masterminds; and bring them straight to justice.
According to him, It has become a norm for APGA to always mention Ebubeagu anytime it claims its politicians were attacked. He then described the allegations from APGA as a smack of an inferiority complex adding that the party knows that it is too infinitesimal and insignificant to win any election in the State; hence it resorts to whipping up sympathy, forgetting that elections are not won on grounds of emotionalism.
Ogbuatu however, urged members of the public to disregard the direct accusations levelled at Ebubeagu and the Ebonyi State Government as they are all false and fabricated by a frustrated Ebonyi APGA to divert attention.
The statement reads in part”APGA had already betrayed its already programmed mindset by concluding that the attack was carried out by Ebubeagu thereby usurping the legitimate duty of the police and other security agencies that are charged with the responsibility of investigating crime and naming suspects.
” In desperation, APGA through its state publicity secretary constituted itself as a judge in its case in the flagrant and gross negation of the principle of natural justice which teaches us that no one should be a judge in a case that concerns him.
“APGA as the jury has already found Ebubeagu “guilty” of the crime and has therefore pronounced disbandment of the security outfit as punishment. One, therefore, wonders whether such a political party that claims a professor is its gubernatorial candidate has a legal adviser at all or whether its legal adviser is one of those roadside lawyers that litter our streets.
“What APGA has done is in total contravention of all known laws in the Nigerian legal system, it is a gross breach of legality and legalism, and therefore the party deserves to be sued for arrogating the powers it doesn’t have to itself.
” We reasonably suspect however that APGA arranged those attacks just to discredit Ebubeagu and the Ebonyi State Government and cover its tracks by diverting culpability.
“The police and other security agencies must get to the root of the crime by ensuring that APGA provides all cogent evidence linking Ebubeagu to the attacks.
” Governor Umahi is a man of peace who has no time to contemplate evil against anybody, unlike Odoh whose machinations to pull down Governor Umahi’s administration right from when he was SSG still stick on his evil mind like a sore thumb.
“The Ebonyi State Government is not deterred by the shenanigans of the opposition and as such, it will never renege on its avowal to ensure that law and order reign supreme in Ebonyi State, particularly this election season and beyond”.
Recall that APGA through its publicity secretary Nwanchor Chibuike Nwanchor, in a statement, alleged that Ebubeagu Security personnel Masterminded the attack on his party Governorship candidate convoy leading to the death of his driver while others sustained different degrees of injuries.
In the early hours of Monday 6th February, the Ebonyi APGA governorship candidate Prof Odo lost again a police officer attached to his convoy who sustained injuries following the attack on his convoy at Ntezi, Ishielu local government area in the State.
The media director Charles Otu disclosed this to Tribune online in a telephone chat.
According to Otu, the police inspector Ibrahim Kudu died in the early hours of Monday at the hospital where he was receiving treatment.
