Anambra: Atiku-Okowa campaign raises alarm over attacks on supporters

The Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC) in Anambra State has condemned the latest attacks on its supporters and loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anaocha Local Government Area by thugs allegedly working for Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The campaign committee lamented that members of the PDP and supporters of Atiku-Okowa in Anaocha LGA have been subjected to a litany of attacks and molestations by some suspected political thugs working for the Labour Party and out to intimidate voters and deny them their franchise ahead of the February 25 poll.

In a statement, yesterday, it said the most recent attack occurred on February 12, at the Agulu Country home of PDP Local Government Chairman for Anaocha, Chief Ambrose Afoekelu, where a group of armed thugs alleged to be former members of the deadly terror group “mpiawa azu” who controlled the state and  devoted thugs who worked for Mr. Peter Obi while he was Governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014 broke into the private home and the location of the PDP Agulu Ward meeting at Odida Ama Village, Agulu.

The campaign committee said the thugs immediately descended and inflicted bodily harm on Afoekelu, and that other party faithful present were also dispossessed of their phones and other personal effects. It said the attacks were more of a direct affront to the PDP’s commitment to peace and to all of its members and Atiku-Okowa supporters in Anambra State.

“They also violate the Peace Accord that all presidential candidates signed. It’s really regrettable that the Labour Party in Anambra State and their candidates have targeted our members and supporters with a variety of politically driven attacks over the past few weeks, mainly in the Agulu and Anaocha Areas, where Peter Obi is from.

“The mindless and ill-motivated attacks are clear indications of Peter Obi’s frustration and defeat, as is the fact that he will lose his ostensible stronghold and hometown to the PDP party in the upcoming presidential elections. As a result, he allegedly unleashed his terrors on PDP party loyalists and supporters of Atiku Abubakar and Senator Ifeanyichukwu Okowa…We aim to caution against taking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate’s political maturity for granted or seeing it as a sign of weakness. In our press statement, we emphasize that this is due to adherence to the Peace Accord rather than a lack of action,” it said.