A group belonging to the chairman of Ohaukwu local government area, Barrister Clement Odah and another belonging to Mr Chinedu Onah, a member of Ebonyi state House of Assembly, representing Ohaukwu South, Thursday protested to the state Government House, Abakaliki.
The protesters alleged that the LGA chairman, Odah Wednesday assaulted Onah at the Assembly committee room, accusing him of stepping down the screening of four of his candidates who he selected for political appointment.
Supporters of Odah protested to exonerate him of the allegation while supporters of Onah protested calling for removal of Odah from office.
While Odah supporters were protesting at the gate of the Government House, Onah supporters were at the Assembly complex in Nkaliki, protesting and later went to Government House, Abakaliki to protest.
Ebonyi state House of Assembly had Wednesday summoned Odah to appear before the House Committee on LGAs Thursday which he obliged.
At the Assembly Complex in Nkaliki, the protesters described the attack on Onah as a deliberate move to distract the lawmaker from performing his functions.
In a statement signed by Onwe Erastus on behalf of the protesters, the group said “we are worried that this deliberate attack by the council chairman is a direct affront on the people of Ohaukwu south state constituency whom the lawmaker represents, and as such, we may begin to experience another set of injustices and marginalisation from the chairman.
“We call on both the state House of Assembly and the security agencies to quickly initiate all measures that will unravel both the immediate and remote causes of the attack and prosecute the offenders in line with the law of the land. This is a very bad precedence and may become a norm if not checked,” the Onah supporters said.
On the other hand, supporters of Odah, led by Agena Benjamin Ogbu, said they decided to protest to counter the insinuations that the council chairman beat up the member representing Ohaukwu south state constituency.
“We heard what people are saying that our council chairman attacked and beat up somebody at the Ebonyi state House of Assembly. He didn’t do that and he is doing very well in his duties and he doesn’t need any distraction and that is why we came to counter that. Our council chairman is a peaceful gentleman and he cannot do that”.
