From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The people of Ekoli -Edda in Ebonyi State have charged the Federal Government to fish out and prosecute purveyors of fake news over insecurity in the state.
Speaking on behalf of the people, President General of Ekoli Patriotic Front (EPF), Agwu Chima Onyike, in a statement, yesterday, regretted attempts by the purveyors of misinformation to cause panic and confusion in the council and to project, a former council Chairman of Afikpo South Local Government Area, Eni Uduma Chima, in a bad light.
He condemned what he called “misleading” petition against Chima by faceless persons under the guise of Ekoli Edda Band of Hope Union.
Onyike dismissed as patently false the claim by the shady characters that it observed “clandestine meetings convened by Eni Uduma Chima in the community with some unknown persons with short guns (pistols) and parading himself and the boys within the length and breadth of the community on 8th June, 2024.”
He expressed the hope that the communique released by the community after their meeting and sent to the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, will also guide the authorities on how to moderate the excesses of the groups.
According to him, the ongoing moves to change All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state should not be allowed to destabilise Ekoli community and Edda Local Government Area.
“As peace-loving and patriotic citizens, we are demanding that the authorities should disregard the petition titled, ‘Urgent Security update” for the reason that it is the product of scaremongers and political jobbers.
“In the same vein, we have called on the faceless authors of the petition to withdraw same immediately, particularly given that the contents are concoctions and drips with tissue of unimaginable lies calculated to malign the former council boss.
“Failure to withdraw the said frivolous petition within the next 48 hours, we shall formally write the security agencies in the State to investigate and prosecute those behind it”, he said.
He further denounced those “hiding behind the cover of Ekoli Band of Hope Union to instigate false security alarms against Eni Uduma Chima to create the impression that fresh crisis was brewing in Ekoli Edda community.”
While urging the faceless petitioners to withdraw their petition and render public apology to Chima, who is a former two-term member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, EPF declared: “The petition is yet another patently false conjecture by some supposedly learned Ekoli elites, who live in perennial and morbid fear of the unmatched popularity and accomplishments of our illustrious son, Eni Uduma Chima.”