Abia PDP condemns, dissociates from inciting video

The Chairman of Ebonyi State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), Stanley Okoro-Emegha, said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was behind the killing of the councillor representing Echara Ward 2, Okposi Community in Ohaozara Council of the state, directing security agents to fish out those behind the act.

The deceased, it was gathered, was ambushed, shot dead and burnt inside his car by unknown gunmen, while returning from an outing in Okposi, known as ‘Angle 90,’ around 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Reacting, the Director, Media and Publicity, Ebonyi PDP Campaign Council, Abia Onyike, said there was no truth in the allegations, adding that APC is known for such actions.

Onyike said: “I don’t think there is truth in that allegation, because it’s a known fact that we, in the PDP, have nothing to do with violence. We have complained on several occasions that the APC have imported AK-47 rifles and other sophisticated weapons into the state, and the state governor is known to be someone who doesn’t play by the rules, and opposed to any form of lawful governance.

“Fortunately, he has been the one stoking the embers of violence in the state for a long time and they have been boasting that anybody that votes for PDP in Saturday’s election will be killed.

Okoro-Emegha expressed displeasure that despite efforts of Governor David Umahi to ensure peace and unity in parts of the state, politicians, who are hungry for power, are working hard to frustrate it.”

He alleged that thugs imported into the state by governorship candidates of opposition parties from all parts of the country for the purpose of elections, are the ones involved in incessant killings across the state and called on security agencies to take immediate actions. He warned those involved in killing for political power in the state to have a rethink and toe the path of peace.

ALSO, Vice Chairman/Acting Publicity Secretary of Abia State PDP, Elder Abraham Amah, has dissociated the party from inciting video trending on social media. Reacting to the development, which he condemned, yesterday, in a statement, titled: ‘Abia State PDP is Totally Against Election Violence,’ he stated that in the said video, “a man wearing the campaign T-shirt of our governorship candidate, Okey Ahiwe, appeared to be calling some individuals to resort to violence during the forthcoming governorship election.”

Distancing PDP from the video, he stated that the individuals involved were acting on their own accord and not on the authority of the party or its governorship candidate, adding that security agencies are in full swing to identify those behind the unruly act and their sponsors to bring them to justice.

According to Amah, Abia PDP, under the leadership of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the State Chairman, Dr. Alwell Okere and governorship candidate, Ahiwe, who is a Knight of the Catholic Church, are known to all; hence, “they will not, for any reason, resort to such acts of desperation just to win an election.”