Umahi orders arrest of PDP publicity secretary in Ebonyi

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi Monday ordered for the arrest and trial of the PDP publicity secretary in the state, Barr. Silas Joseph Onu, over a press statement he issued on the killing in Effium community over the weekend by hoodlums.

Umahi who described the statement as fake spoke at Effium during his visit to interface with the victims of the crisis which started between the members of the National Union of road transport workers, Effium Motor Park on Friday.

“It is not political, we use politics to destroy our people sometimes you ignite this crisis by the stroke of your pen, the one that calls himself Silas Onu, I will task SSS wherever he is that wrote about this, he must be arrested and tried. I will task the SSS director to do that, he stays in  Abuja so he will report the matter to Abuja.

He said: “Let me say that one of the reasons we have given the youths our rights is for our selfish interest, nobody needs to tell me that these two gladiators are the problem of this place.

“Sometimes is 2023 plus 2027, these are the issues and it is a shame what is going on.

But reacting to the governor’s directive, the PDP spokesperson said as a free citizen of the state with constitutional, he cannot be intimidated or silenced by anybody.

He insists that his statement on the killings that took place in Effium was factual as many lives and properties were lost in the community crisis.

He challenged the state government to protect the lives and properties of the citizenry.

“My attention has been drawn to the fact that Governor David Nweze Umahi has just ordered the Police and DSS to arrest me in connection with the Ezza/Effuim crisis.

“It is laughable that the Governor will stoop so low as to connect me with a crisis that his appointees are directly any openly responsible for. This has got to be the most desperate move to silence opposition.

“During the Christmas holiday, I got a credible tip that my life is in danger as some group of gang members were directed to “silence” me. I had to take extra precautions to remain alive.

“Now, it is in response to my press release, wherein I stated the fact that the Governor’s appointees were arrested in connecting with their open involvement in the crisis rocking Ezza and Effium communities that he, in a meeting this afternoon, has ordered my arrest.

“Let the whole world know that I reside in Abuja and have no interest in whatever led to the crisis in Ezza and Effium. What interested me more was the failure of protection of lives and properties by the Government.

“I am a free citizen with my constitutional rights intact and cannot be intimidated into silence. I will continue to discharge my responsibility as the spokesperson of the opposition in Ebonyi State.

“Should anything happen to me, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State should be held responsible?

“I have filed a fundamental right action already. That is the protection that our constitution bequeaths upon us,” he said.

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