Stop This Madness – NDC Kicks Following Attack On Members In Enugu
The Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned an alleged attack on its members during a ward meeting in the state.
This was just as it described the incident as political thuggery and warned that its members would not be intimidated.
The attack reportedly occurred at Ihuani Awkunanaw in Obuofia, Nkanu Council Area, Enugu State, the ancestral home of the Awkunanaw people and hometown of the party’s 2027 governorship candidate, Christian Chinyeaka Ohaa.
According to the party, its members had assembled for the state-wide monthly ward meeting when suspected political thugs allegedly invaded the venue and opened fire on the gathering.
Eight party members were identified as sustaining gunshot injuries in the attack. They are Onovo Donald Ekene, Ngene Godwin Madueke, Ogbodo Gloria, Onovo Victor, Maduabuchi Ugwu, Nnaemeka Nelson, Chinonso Nwagbara and Obinna Daniel Owo.
In a statement signed by Sampson Ukwu, media aide to Ohaa, the party said canopies, chairs and other party materials were also vandalised and destroyed.
Ohaa’s aide said the incident was “a clear act of political thuggery and an attempt to intimidate members of the opposition through violence.”
The party alleged that the attack was part of a pattern of violence against its members, citing previous disruptions of political gatherings in Akpugo and Obe wards in Nkanu West Council Area.
It said such attacks were unacceptable in a democratic society, stressing that citizens had a constitutional right to life, freedom of association and participation in political activities.
“No political party or group of hoodlums has the right to turn the streets of Enugu into a battlefield or to attack citizens for exercising their constitutional rights,” the statement said.
The NDC urged the Enugu State Police Command, the Department of State Services and other security agencies to immediately investigate the incident, identify those responsible and prosecute them.
“The lives of our members matter,” the party said.
Ohaa, while urging his supporters to remain calm, called on the NDC family in Enugu to remain committed to its political activities despite the alleged attack.
“We will not be intimidated. We will not abandon our people. We will continue our peaceful and issue-based campaign until the will of Ndi Enugu prevails in 2027,” he said.
“Enough of this madness,” Ohaa declared.
Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has accused the police and members of the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Security Planning and Advisory Committee, OSPAC, of disrupting a political meeting in Ikwerre Local Government Area and arresting three of its members.
The party, in a statement issued on Saturday by its spokesperson, Chizy Enyi, demanded the immediate release of Confidence Amadi, Chikezie Justice and Isaiah Thomas, whom it said were arrested during the incident in Isiokpo.
The ADC alleged that its House of Assembly candidate for Ikwerre State Constituency, Jeffrey Okenne, had organised a peaceful consultative meeting ahead of his campaign activities when police officers and OSPAC personnel allegedly stormed the venue.
The party further alleged that some participants were assaulted, injured and dispossessed of their mobile phones during the incident.
Okenne, in a video shared on Facebook on Friday, alleged that OSPAC personnel were brought into the community by the police through the Ikwerre Local Government Chairman, Charles Nwobodo.
“He sent the Councillor for Ward 1, and the chief security officer to come to my community and scatter a meeting,” Okenne alleged.
The candidate maintained that the ADC had the right to campaign, describing the incident as a serious development for the party in Ikwerre.
In another Facebook post, Okenne alleged that some OSPAC members used machetes to assault participants and that phones and money belonging to some attendees were taken.
The ADC said attempts to secure the release of its detained members were unsuccessful after the Isiokpo Area Commander, ACP Felix Ojiaku, allegedly said they would be charged with cultism based on an “order from above”.
The party called on the Inspector-General of Police and Rivers State Commissioner of Police to investigate the allegations and establish whether any police officer acted on such an instruction.
It also alleged that some OSPAC members later mobilised to the police area command and assaulted ADC members around the facility.
The party expressed particular concern over Thomas, alleging that his residence in Omuoko village, Aluu, was attacked, looted and burnt in August following a political meeting.
ADC Chairman in Ikwerre, Joel Wigwe, said the party would not accept attempts to disrupt its political activities.
“Nobody has a monopoly on violence. We have what it takes to resist them,” Wigwe said.
