Labour Party Cries out to FG, Security Agencies over Alleged Intimidation by Abia

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Abia State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP), has sent a distress call to the Federal Government and the relevant security agencies to urgently intervene and save the party from intimidation and violence allegedly being perpetrated by the state government.

The save-our-soul message was sent at the weekend by the State Coordinator of the Alex Otti Campaign Council, Hon. Iheanacho Obioma, at a news conference in Umuahia, alleging a continuation of unrestrained and unprovoked attacks on LP and its candidates.

Obioma said: “We call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, the police, the DSS and indeed all law enforcement agencies saddled with the responsibilities of ensuring peace and order, to call Ikpeazu and the Abia State Government to order before they set the state on avoidable fire.” 

He said that in its latest acts of intimidation and provocation, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led Abia government has sent its agents to arrest a Chieftain of LP, Dr. Elder Nwaigburu, for resisting the destruction of the party’s billboard at Isiala Ngwa South Local Government.

According to him, Nwaigburu was arrested on Thursday “after he and other party faithful prevented another act of destruction of our billboard.”

The coordinator of Otti’s campaign said that LP was crying out once again “to enable all law abiding citizens lend their voices against these acts that are capable of causing avoidable unrest in the state.”

He said that the opposition party’s state leadership had previously petitioned both the State Police Command and the Department of State Service (DSS) “when we realised that the PDP and Abia State Government were not ready to give peace a chance.”

“While the DSS intervened and cautioned the General Manager of Abia State Signage and Advertising Agency, Mr. Anthony Otuonye, who was being used to perpetrate these acts of violence, the police in the state also got involved,” he said.

However, Obioma regretted that “after repeatedly destroying our gigantic billboard located around Umuikaa junction at the Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, the government and its agents” have gone a step further and arrested an LP chieftain for trying to prevent more destruction of billboards.

He stated that “Abia State Government has not been able to establish any single lawful reason for the destruction of our campaign billboards, except that our presence in the election contest in Abia has thrown the failed government into a panic mode, hence its resort to violence.”

He demanded that “the Okezie Ikpeazu led government should without delay release a Chieftain of our party they illegally arrested” adding that the government “would have no justifiable reason to resort to violence if its false claims of excellent performance were true.

“The energies and resources being wasted against Labour Party and her candidates should be deployed in taking care of Abia workers and pensioners most of whom are owed up to 45 months pension and salary arrears.” 

The former federal lawmaker warned that the Labour Party and its candidates “will not hesitate to prevail on the APC led federal government to declare a state of emergency in Abia if this trend continues as the safety of lives and property of our people are of paramount importance to us.”