David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
Suspected hoodlums have killed a ward chairman of Young Progressives Party (YYP) in Anambra State.
The ward chairman whose name was given as Mr. Joe Mohale of Nanka Ward 1 in Orumba North Local Government Area was killed on Saturday evening, shortly after a ward meeting, where he hosted the member representing Orumba North and South Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinwe Nnabuife.
The incident is coming on the heels of the rerun election in the area between the YPP candidate, Hon Nnabuife and the PDP candidate for area, Hon Okwudili Ezenwankwo.
Mohale, a strong member of the YPP, had held a meeting with Nnabuife promising to mobilise for her victory against, Ezenwankwo who hails from the area, but he was shot immediately after the meeting.
A source said his death was not unconnected to politics as a rival political party had warned people from the area not to host Nnabuife.
Nnabuife, a candidate of YPP in the last election, had won the election and was also sworn in as the representative of the constituency in the House of Representatives.
Tribunal, however, declared for a rerun in 16 polling units in Nanka ward one, where her rival, Nwankwo hails from, and the decision was also upheld by the Court of Appeal, leading both parties to begin preparation for the rerun.
Meanwhile, the YPP has gone into morning following the killing of its member.
Nnabuife who assumed leadership of the party in the South East after the defection of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah said the party in the South east has been thrown into mourning because of the incident.
She attributed the incident to her political opponent, saying that thuggery in the area has become rife.
“We have been thrown into mourning. This is the handwork of those who we are up against. Though INEC has not fixed the date, but there will be a rerun between me and Ezenwankwo of PDP.
“Mohale was a strong supporter of our party and we will not stop at anything to ensure that his death is not in vain. People do everything to bully us out of the race, but as woman who is determined to help her people through effective legislation, we are not deterred by the number of thugs they send after us,” Nnabuife lamented.
