By John Ituma (Ebonyi State Correspondent)
The publicity secretary of the people's Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi state, Chika Nwoba Chika, has been kidnapped.
According to an eyewitness account by the Deputy Chairman of the party in the state, Bar. Ifeanyi Nworie, the incident occurred on Sunday along Abakaliki/Enugu highway. Nworie stated in his account made available to the press that the kidnappers double-crossed the vehicle in which he was driving alongside Nwoba, shooting sporadically in the air and pulling Nwoba in the process into the trunk of a Sienna bus while beating him severely.
However, the Nworie stated that the prompt arrival of the anti-kidnapping unit of the police prevented the kidnappers from taking Nwoba away.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the party in the state, Tochukwu Okorie, later in a press release, alleged that the kidnappers were actually the militant wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the control of the state government. According to the chairman in his statement, Nwoba, the publicity secretary must have been targeted because of his earlier exposure of the activities of the dreaded group terrorizing the people of the state.
He noted that Nwoba once published a picture of the group wielding Ak47 weapons, and this, he said, incensed the gang to hunt him. He said they had earlier tortured Nwoba and forced him to make a false statement, saying that he is the one who supplied them the weapons.
Ironically, Okorie wondered why the police willingly let the kidnappers go this time, but instead detained the victim, refusing to allow him even go with the alleged badly inflicted injuries on him. Okorie lamented that efforts to speak with the commissioner of police or even allow him access to the victim since on Sunday have been rebuffed by the police.
He, therefore, calls on the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation to intervene in the interests of peace and order. His words: "At about 1300hrs this afternoon, the state publicity secretary of PDP, Nwoba Chika Nwoba, was abducted by a gang of criminals along Abakaliki/Enugu road, and was thrown into the trunk of the sienna bus the abductors used.
"Mr Nwoba was riding in the company of the party deputy chairman barrister Ifeanyi Nworie who courageously resisted the kidnappers from taking away Nwoba in their vehicle.
"Barr. Nworie now put a call across the O/C anti-kidnapping unit of Ebonyi police who promptly sent a team. The abductors were intercepted and Nwoba was subsequently rescued from the abductors by the anti-kidnapping unit of the Ebonyi police command. So far Mr Nwoba has been taken into custody by the police.
"It is unfortunate that rather than arresting the abductors who they met on the ground they took Nwoba into their custody and allowed the abductors to go. Upon inquiry, we were informed that those were a gang of criminal elements employed by Gov. David Umahi, a group of terrorists code-named Ebubeagu. It was on the instruction of the governor that they were let off the hook and Mr Nwoba who was the victim has now become the accused in these circumstances.
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"I want to take the opportunity to tell Nigerians and the world that Umahi has turned Ebonyi state into a war zone. He has turned the state into a terrorists infested area. From day to day, this gang of marauders kidnap, maim and kill the innocent citizens of the state.
"They have turned the old government house and Ebonyi Hotels into their torture chambers where they carry their victims to either torture, maim or kill them and the state government does absolutely nothing.
"The case of Chika Nwoba is a sad one, so sad that the police said they have instructions not to allow anybody to see Chika Nwoba. Even as the PDP state Chairman, I was their in person and was not allowed to see Nwoba until I left. I was there for over one hour and I was not allowed to see Chika Nwoba who they rescued apparently from kidnappers. Why is the police still keeping Chika Nwoba? Is Chika now a suspect? What is he being accused of?
"I want the world to know that the People's Democratic Party in Ebonyi state has become an endangered species. The governor has armed the so-called Ebubeagu gang of terrorists with all kinds of dangerous weapons, including AK47 and even grenade launchers which they openly parade.
"Chika Nwoba had actually published a photograph of an operative of Ebubeagu in uniform holding AK47. They quickly rushed and got hold of this guy, tortured him in their torture chambers at Ebonyi Hotels, and made him make confessions that are totally reprehensible and untrue, that it was Chika Nwoba that put the uniform on him, gave AK47 and such ridiculous accusations.
"And since that time, they have been hounding Nwoba, which made him go into hiding until today (Sunday) when they finally got him. We thank God that Nwoba was riding with the state PDP deputy chairman when they got him, otherwise who knows what would have become of him by now?
"We call on the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to take judicial notice of what is happening in Ebonyi state. We also call on the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Monguno to take judicial notice of what is happening in Ebonyi state. We call on the Inspector General of Police to take notice of what is happening in Ebonyi state.
"The day-to-day plethora of cases of abuse of office and abuse of power by the governor has been recorded. He has misused the so-called Ebubeagu which he has been using to intimidate, abduct and deal with people the way he wants.
"We want to warn that no individual has the monopoly of violence. We are being pushed to the wall. The PDP in Ebonyi state is a peace-loving Democratic organization, but we are being pushed to the point where we will have to resist the evil that is being perpetrated in the state.
"How can the state government be an enabler of terrorism in the state? How can the state government sponsor terrorism in the state and the rest of the country is just idly watching helplessly until every one of us in the state is killed?
"No one is safe under the administration of David Umahi, and President Muhammadu Buhari has to immediately rise to the occasion by calling David Umahi to order. The Constitution of Nigeria recognizes only one police force - the Nigerian Police Force. David Umahi cannot legally constitute state police under the Constitution. He cannot form state police on his own. An illegal organization being armed, used to harass people, to harass the oppositions in the state.
"And that is why this evening, we are making this press statement so that the world will know that nobody is safe in Ebonyi state unless you belong to the APC. When I called the Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi state, he said he was not around, and that I should give him till Monday when he will be back. But I know it is a gimmick to have Nwoba charged to a kangaroo court and have him remanded", Okorie stated. NNL.