29th August, 2011
An Igbo political group in the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has appealed to the leadership of the party in the state to call some political office holders in the Coker Aguda Local Council Development Area, LCDA, to order.
The group, the Igbo United Political Coalition told P.M.NEWS that some political office holders in the LCDA had been threatening to deal with their members for failing to support a candidate.
Mr. Kelechi Opara, chairman of the group, disclosed that the problem started during the last general elections when the group refused to support a particular candidate who was not the party’s choice.
“During the last House of Representatives’ election, I told them that as far as our group is concerned, we can only support the party’s candidate, not an individual candidate. Ever since then, they have been threatening me and other members of the group.
“Last week Thursday, when we went to the council secretariat for the group’s meeting, the council leader, Mr. Habib Adeosi, Mr. Jubril Sasore, the majority leader, Mr. Quadri Orukekun, the council Chief Whip and Saheed Salaudeen, Supervisor for Works, with some men suspected to be thugs attacked 16 of us and chased us out of the council secretariat.
“They said if we refused to join them and support their candidate for the coming local government election, we should stop holding our meetings in the secretariat and I told them that we can only support the party’s candidate, not an aspirant,†Opara stated.
He disclosed that the Chairman of the LCDA, Mr. Yomi Giwa witnessed the harassment but failed to call them to order.
Mrs. Ngozi Adekola, one of the injured members of the group explained that they were about to move out of the hall as ordered by the politicians when thugs swooped on them and wounded her.
She said her jewellery and handset were stolen during the attack.
Mr. Christopher Okpala, a leader of the group and former special assistant to the former chairman of the council, Mr. Aliu Kazeem, said the group decided not to take any action because such action would not do the party any good, especially as the local government election is around the corner.
Responding to the allegations, Mr. Yomi Giwa, the council chairman, who is also an aspirant in the coming election dismissed the group’s allegations in a text message.
Mrs. Habib Adeosi and Jubril Sasore, the party’s leaders in the area, who spoke on phone said members of the group were chased out of the council secretariat because of a standing order banning any form of political meeting within the secretariat.
They described members of the group as allies of APGA during the last governorship election but now claiming to be working for the ACN.
—Paul Sanusi