The Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora, AESID, has condemned the move by Governor Dave Umahi to start arresting some leaders of the opposition party over insecurity.
The AESID President, Paschal Oluchukwu, in a statement made available to newsmen Friday in Abuja, said the governor should be held responsible if any evil befalls any of the opposition leaders in the state.
The association, however, called on the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali-Baba, to immediately redeploy both the State’s Commissioner of Police, Garba Aliyu and the AIG, Zone 9, Etem Ene-Okon, saying both might have become willing tools in the hands of the governor.
The association recalled how Mr Umahi’s audio clip surfaced online in which he threatened to use Ebubeagu security outfit to arrest and deal with members of the National Assembly and other leaders of the opposition party in the state.
The governor was quoted to have made the statement during a courtesy visit to him on May 19, 2021 by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Etem Ene Okon and other CPs and officers under the Zone 9 Command.
Among those the governor mentioned in the audio clip include; Dr. Sam Egwu, Linus Abaa Okorie, Ali Odefa, Chidiebere Egwu, Silas Onu, Amos Ogbonnaya, Fred Udeogu and Anyi Pius Anyim.
The AESID said: “To this end therefore, we call on the security agencies to hold Umahi accountable should any evil or attack befall the listed and unlisted PDP stakeholders whom he has vowed to deal with using the supposed Ebubeagu outfit which ordinarily should be a regional security platform that would have been more concerned about manning the porous Ebonyi borders.
“While we condemn in strongest terms, this imminent threats on the lives of Ebonyi opposistion leaders, we wish to once again appeal to Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba to IMMEDIATELY redeploy both the State’s Commissioner of Police, Garba Aliyu and the said AIG, Zone 9, Etem Ene Okon as we believe that the both have already become very willing tools in the evil hands of the Governor.
“But it appears the Governor is not only remaining on a free fall but wants total anarchy in our once peaceful State. The live and let live, stay in your party and let others remain in theirs sermon that AESID have been preaching to the Governor appears to have utterly fallen on deaf ears.”
While expressing shock over the statements credited to the governor, the group condemned the resort to name-calling by governor Umahi.
“Again, we condemn this baseless resort to name-callings and onslaughts against elders of the PDP for the simple reason that they saw very cogent reasons to remain in the PDP when the Governor embarked on his rather solitary sojourn to the ruling APC.
“Whereas as a group we, just like the rest of Ebonyians may have no problems with his decision to dump the party that gave him their all since his political journey, we are irked by his unfortunate lies and desperation to play politics with everything in the state including security issues as represented in his claim in the said audio clip.”
