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From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
No fewer than 10 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ikwuator, Idembia, Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, are currently receiving treatment in various hospitals in the state after suspected political thugs attacked them during a rally in the community.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon.
The PDP supporters were attending a rally to receive Ifeanyi Nworie, who defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP, when the thugs, who wore T-shirts bearing the picture of a federal lawmaker, attacked them and inflicted varying degrees of injuries on them.
The political event was originally scheduled to take place at a roadside village square in the community, but the thugs stormed the venue and disrupted it.
Nworie subsequently relocated the gathering to his private compound in the area.
The attackers traced the attendees to the residence and inflicted serious bodily harm on them.
Plastic chairs, canopies, the public address system and other valuable property were destroyed by the attackers.
At a press conference in Abakaliki, the state capital, after the incident, the party described the attack as provocative and an assault on democracy.
It called on the police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and other relevant security agencies to ensure a level playing field for all political parties and political activities throughout the state.
Chairman of the party in the state, Chukwuma Igwe, recalled that in the last few weeks, supporters and members of the PDP had faced threats from the APC.
He said vehicles were damaged and several people were assaulted with dangerous weapons, with eight persons receiving treatment in hospital following the attack.
“We have called this press conference to draw the attention of Nigeria and Nigerians to undemocratic action deliberately orchestrated to undermine the conduct of the 2027 general elections in Ebonyi State.
“We therefore call on all security agencies to uphold their constitutional responsibility of protecting all Nigerians and ensuring that every citizen of Ebonyi State is free to exercise his or her civic responsibilities in accordance with the Constitution, including the rights to freedom of association and political participation.
“We state unequivocally that the PDP in Ebonyi State will not be intimidated by undemocratic forces, irrespective of who may be behind them.
“As political activities commence in the coming days, we urge our members to remain peaceful and law-abiding. We also call on the Ebonyi State Government to play by the rules of democracy, bearing in mind that no one has a monopoly on violence or misconduct.
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“We further urge all security agencies to remain impartial in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities, in the interest of democracy and justice.
“We specifically call on the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigerian Armed Forces, and all other relevant security agencies to ensure a level playing field for all political parties and political activities throughout Ebonyi State,” Igwe said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state denied the attack.
Reacting to the allegation by the PDP that the APC was responsible for the incident, Chairman of the APC in the state, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha, described the party as peaceful.
He said those who were not comfortable with the political activities of Ifeanyi Nworie might be responsible for the attack, and not the APC.
“So far as it has to do with APC in Ebonyi State, we watch the body language of our dear Governor, he doesn’t want to offend anyone.
“As such, we must toe his path. There is no any time APC will have a hand in violence because you know very well that if you get yourself into such act, the governor will abandon you.
“So, as such, our members should not get themselves into violence because our Governor is not a supporter of such thing.
“The governor doesn’t want violence. If can’t trade with somebody today politically, you can trade with the person tomorrow politically.
“His Excellency understands that we are one and we will remain one invisible. So, we are part of the attack.
“People who are no longer comfortable with that Ifeanyi Nworie’s political behaviour, may be responsible for the incident,” Emegha told Daily Sun.
The thugs had attacked 10 journalists on their way to cover the PDP rally. Nworie had invited the journalists to cover the event.
The journalists were travelling in their official vehicle, marked “Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ)”, when the thugs, led by one Mr Friday Agbom, attacked them.
The thugs repeatedly struck the vehicle in an attempt to gain entry into it and were looking for fuel to set it ablaze when the driver manoeuvred past them and escaped.
Agbom, a chieftain of the APC and a legal practitioner, described the journalists as political journalists and warned them not to set their feet in the community again.
