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‘Enemies of Progress’ Bombed Nwodo’s House, Say Police As PDP, Ekweremdu React

Published

5 years ago

April 30, 2018

Eric

The Nigeria Police Force, Enugu State Command, has described those that bombed the country home of the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, on Sunday as enemies of progress.

The home of the chieftain was rocked by an explosion which is believed to have been caused by an improvised explosive device thrown by a yet-to-be-identified person into the compound of the building at Ukehe, in the Igboetiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, around 5.30am.

Windows of a building located close to the gate of the compound was shattered by the explosion.

The ceilings as well as the air conditioning units in the building were equally damaged.

It was gathered that Nwodo was not in the house when the incident occurred, as he spent the night at his residence in Enugu metropolis.

The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Danmallam Mohammed, who led a team of the police Explosive Ordnance Department to inspect the site of the explosion, vowed that the perpetrators of the incident would be apprehended.

A statement by Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, said Mohammed described those behind the explosion as ‘enemies of progress.’

“Those behind this are enemies of progress and we have to fish them out. We thank God that there is no loss of life or major destruction, we have to be more vigilant and security conscious and be able to partner security agencies to ensure that there is no repeat of such an incident,” the police commissioner said.

Amaraizu, who described the incident as a ‘minor explosion,’ disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed that the perpetrators threw the explosive device into the compound through the fence.

“The Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Danmallam Mohammed, has vowed to unmask those behind the dastardly incident of minor explosion at the Ukehe residence of Chief Nnia Nwodo, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

“Background checks revealed that the perpetrator, who did not have access through the entrance gate, might have thrown the object through the fence and it landed on the ground near the windows and exploded and gave some impacts,” Amaraizu said. He added that the operatives of the Explosive Ordinance Department collected some of the samples from the debris of the explosion for proper analysis and classification.

The police spokesman added that “the area was rendered safe by the EOD operatives,” even as the state commissioner of police had directed the Area Commander to beef up security and surveillance within the axis.

Mohammed wondered why anybody would be after Nwodo’s life, who, he said, was only serving his people.

He however urged residents of the area to be more vigilant, and report strange faces to the police and other security agencies.

Meanwhile, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned “in strong terms” the bombing of the country home of Nwodo.

Ekweremadu reacted to the attack in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu.

He said, “This is a dastardly act. It is certainly ugly, evil and outrageous. I roundly condemn it. This is quite an unusual development in the South-East and we will not accept it.

“I call on the security agencies to get to the root of this devilish act and ensure that the culprits and masterminds are brought to book immediately.”

Nwodo, who was at the residence during the police commissioner’s visit, commended the police for their prompt arrival on the scene.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emeka Atama, said Nwodo was surprised that some unknown people were after his life.

The statement added that Nwodo vowed that the attack would not deter him from continuing to lead Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The traditional ruler of Umudele community, in Ukehe, Igwe Lawrence Aroh, thanked God for saving Nwodo’s life.

Aroh assured the police commissioner that the people of the community would be extra-vigilant in order to prevent future attacks.

The Director of the Department for State Services in Enugu State, Mrs. E. A. Likiyon, also visited the scene of the incident on Sunday.

The Sunday explosion came on the heels of media attacks launched against Nwodo by a faction of the Ohanaeze Youth Wing, the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the Indigenous People of Biafra.

The Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro-led OYC recently announced the ‘suspension’ of Nwodo, after passing a vote of no confidence in him.

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, and the party have condemned the bombing of Nwodo’s house.

Secondus told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday, that there were indications that President Muhammadu Buhari was already tired of providing security for the citizenry.

He said, “…Maybe the man was targeted because he was among the leaders who met in Abuja last week and criticised the President and the Federal Government for the way they are handling the issue of herdsmen and others in the county.

“Nwodo is a man of peace and cannot even hurt a fly. Why would someone like that be targeted for evil? Nigerians should rise up and condemn the action and also ask the international community to take proper note of happenings in the county.”

Secondus also called on the heads of security agencies in the country to be alive to their constitutional responsibilities.

Also, the PDP has described the action of the arsonists as callous, horrendous and wicked.

The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on Sunday, asked security agencies to unravel the identities of the masked characters behind the dastardly act.

The Punch

News

Police Confirm Killing of APC Campaign DG in Rivers

Published

6 hours ago

March 20, 2023

Eric

The Director General for the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign in Ahoada West Local Government Area, Chisom Lenard, has reportedly been assassinated.

Lenard was reportedly gunned down on Saturday afternoon during the governorship and State House of Assembly election in his LGA.

The Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the Commissioner of Police has ordered a speedy investigation to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.

“The Commissioner of Police in charge of the Election duties in Rivers State Command, CP Echeng Echeng, has tasked operatives of the Command to deploy all necessary human and investigative assets to ensure that the killers of the Campaign Director-General for the All Progressives Congress in Ahoada West in Rivers State, Hon. Chisom Lenard, are brought to book,” she said.

“From information gathered, the Campaign DG was shot by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in the afternoon of Saturday 18th March 2023.

“The Commissioner of Police commiserates with the family of the bereaved and has promised to bring perpetrators of such heinous crime to justice.”

News

Just In: INEC Declares NNPP’s Kabir Winner of Kano Gov Election

Published

9 hours ago

March 20, 2023

Eric

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has declared the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP governorship candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf winner of the last Saturday election in Kano State.

Yusuf defeated his close rival, the All Progressive Congress, APC candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna with a margin of over 100,000 votes.

The INEC Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Ahmad Doko Ibrahim declared the results at the Kano Collation Centre, INEC headquarters in Kano.

News

Timi Frank Lauds Amaechi for Revealing Who Hired INEC Chairman

Published

1 day ago

March 19, 2023

Eric

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Sunday, commended the a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for revealing those who truly appointed Professor Mahmood Yakubu as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Amaechi had while responding to questions from reporters after casting his vote in Rivers State on Saturday, disclosed that Professor Yakubu was nominated for appointment by a member of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s camp.

Amaechi, according to a video of the interview which has gone viral, said: “What advice? I have spoken to everybody concerned on this issue before the election.

“I have spoken especially to those of us who opposed the reappointment of Mahmood as INEC Chairman.

“The person who nominated him for appointment is a member of Tinubu’s camp. So what are you expecting? Success?

“He said, Mahmood worked under Wike as Executive Secretary of TETFUND when Wike was Minister of State for education”.

“So what you are having in Rivers State is that APC, SDP and others are contesting elections not against PDP but against INEC and against the Police.”

Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, in his reaction to the revelation, thanked the former Governor of Rivers state for his boldness and courage in revealing that Yakubu was installed by Tinubu’s cabal to help rig the election in his favour and that of the APC.

He said that as a former top Minister under President Muhammadu Buhari and a chieftain of the APC, Amaechi was competent and credible enough to reveal those who facilitated the INEC’s job for Yakubu.

Frank said: “From day one, it is clear that the INEC Chairman did not have any good intention to give Nigerians a credible election but to just come and handover.

“He decided to deceive Nigerians and that is why he refused to follow the Commission’s own election guidelines because of the hatchet job he was prepared to do for those who facilitated his appointment into office.

“The INEC chairman needs to be arrested for lying and his refusal to follow the template and guidelines put in place by the commission, an act that is tantamount to criminality.

“The first and second elections were massively flawed by rigging and violence in most of the states.

“The last time we witnessed violence in Nigeria was during the 2011 general election. This election as corroborated by Amaechi, was not a contest between PDP and APC, but a contest between PDP and INEC and security agencies.”

He insisted that because the INEC Chairman owed overwhelming allegiance to Tinubu for appointing him to the job, all he did was to reward Tinubu with votes rather than conduct a free, fair and credible elections.

He said: “That is why the INEC chairman did not come out to conduct any election. He only came to reward Tinubu and the cabal that brought him into office.

“Based on Amaechi’s confession, he only came to reward the people that put him there rather than conduct a free and fair election.

“That is why he gave Nigeria to Tinubu and APC. Then gave Rivers state to Wike as there was no election in the state. He only rewarded his benefactor.

“We believe with this kind of evidence and proof that Amaechi has revealed, the INEC chairman lacks integrity and credibility to remain in office.

“With all of this, he needs to resign and go. Apart from immediate resignation, he should be arrested based on all the crimes he has committed and prosecuted for selling the will of the people to reward those who fought for him to be appointed for a second term in office.”

According to the Bayelsa-born political activist, Yakubu practically conducted the worst and most fraudulent election in the history of Nigeria because of an obligation he owed those who saw to his appointment.

He said the fraud and rigging perpetrated during the election show clearly that Buhari is not only culpable but a partner to the dirty marriage that culminated in the re-appointment of the INEC chairman.

“We expected Buhari to have left a legacy of free, fair and credible elections which he promised Nigerians but what has happened shows that he equally lacks integrity and honour to keep to his words.

“He came and benefitted from democracy peacefully, but turned around to destroy it.

“With this, we call on the international community to help Nigeria because we don’t have confidence in the government of today under Buhari,” he said.

He further called on the international community to urgently take strong measures against election riggers in the country like the INEC Chairman, security chiefs – police and others – that rigged the elections and fraudulently thwarted the will of the people.

He added: “In all of these, with the amount of rigging, intimidation, violence and allocation of votes that characterised the elections, we believe the nation’s Judiciary at the end of the day will be able to redeem our democracy by doing substantial justice to all petitions that would be brought before the courts.”

He prayed God to repose the souls of those who lost their lives as a result of violent attacks during the elections as well as sympathised with those who were injured and their families.