A factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Udi council of Enugu State is now on the run after allegedly leading armed thugs to hijack and burn the membership register of All Progressives Congress in the area, last Friday.
It was gathered from police sources that the Udi PDP Chairman, Mr. Isaac Nwoye, may have fled on hearing that the police were on his trail to arrest him.
Members of APC told our correspondent, on Sunday, that Nwoye had led the thugs to hijack the register while collation of materials from the just concluded APC membership registration was ongoing.
The IFEPET Garden at Ninth Mile Corner, in Udi, was the collation centre.
“The thugs reportedly dumped the register in a nearby bush, soaked it with petrol and set it on fire,” said. Mr. Felix. Okafor, an APC official.
Okafor claimed the thugs were led by the factional PDP chairman in Udi, Isaac Nwoye.
Our correspondent gathered that following an entry made by APC officials at Ninth Mile Police Station, the matter was referred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
It was gathered that SARS operatives have already swung into action and are on the trail of the hoodlums.
The Enugu State Police Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, had earlier confirmed the incident, and added that the suspects are yet to be identified and arrested.
He said, “So far, we have been able to restore peace to the area and we are currently carrying out our investigations.
“We would speak to the press when we are ready with our findings.”
Narrating his account of the incident, Okafor said the collation of registration materials from the 28 communities and 20 electoral wards were ongoing when about 15 armed men barged into the place and ordered everybody to lie down.
He said, “Surprisingly, one of them broke a bottle on the table and threatened to stab me, but I ran away and everybody scampered for safety as they were more in number and wielding various dangerous weapons. More so, we were not prepared for any reprisal attack, so we made haste and ran away.
He said, “When I came out, one of them rushed at me and I saw him, and I knew him by name, residence and occupation. And I called him Isaac Nwoye, and asked why he had come to maim and kidnap people. He then asked me: ‘Why are you here? Are you part of these people?’. He said that the registration of APC ended yesterday (Thursday) and asked what I was doing there?
“As I was talking with him, two of them came in and started beating me here and there. I resisted them to the best of my ability but when they wanted to overpower me, I shouted the name of Isaac Nwoye for people around to hear even if they killed me. I shouted his name to let people know the person that led the gang. As I was shouting his name, they slowed down the attack on me and attacked some other members of our party.”
Okafor said the hoodlums parked the registration materials in a SUV Jeep belonging to Nwoye and made away with it.
He said that immediately the hoodlums left him, he rushed to the police station to make a report.
Okafor claimed he lost his phone, his file, N5,000 cash and other personal effects during the incident.
He said he would not know the degree of injury sustained by other APC officials, “because the way the incident happened, everybody ran away for safety.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the Udi PDP factional chairman declined reacting to the matter.
He also would not pick subsequent phone calls to his mobile phone.
On his part, the Enugu PDP Chairman, Mr. Vita Abba, told our correspondent that he could not react to the matter since it was an issue involving a local government.
“The matter is at the local government level, and not a state issue, so I am not in the best position to comment on it,” said Abba. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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This are the things OBJ was talking about in his letter to GEJ!!!
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