PDP faults Buhari’s silence over attempts to assassinate CUPP spokesman

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Imo State on Tuesday raised an alarm that for the third time in less than two months, “there was another bloody attack today” at the residence of the spokesman of Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP and candidate for Ideato Federal Constituency, Barr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere.

The opposition party said eyewitnesses were very exact and unanimous in their verdict that the hooded attackers were members of the state-backed Ebubeagu militia who were said to have been stationed in Akokwa, just recently.

PDP stated this in a release, signed by its publicity secretary, Collins Opurozor and made available to Newspot in Owerri, Imo State capital.

The party alleged that the latest attack, apart from its core objective to assassinate Ikenga Ugochinyere, was also contrived to intimidate his supporters and weaken the resolve of Ideato people who are fully determined to elect Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere as a member of the House of Representatives at the polls on February 25th, 2023.

Recall that on December 23, 2022, the convoy of Ikenga was attacked as he returned home from Abuja, and he narrowly escaped death. On January 14, 2023, Ikenga’s residence in Umukegwu-Akokwa witnessed a bloody onslaught that left three persons dead, including his uncle and 32 vehicles burnt to ashes and buildings levelled to the ground with explosives.

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The statement reads: “Today, the state-sanctioned terrorists who rode in a convoy of vehicles that included an armoured personnel carrier returned to the very same residence with even more audacity, unleashing mayhem on the buildings and letting loose hell upon everyone at sight. We are yet to establish the casualties.

Avowing that “the attacks on Ikenga Ugochinyere began immediately after he exposed the widespread compromise of the INEC voter register,” Imo PDP said: “What our party finds deeply disturbing is that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government have remained silent over these continuous bloody attacks on our candidate by ostensible agents of the Imo APC regime.”

PDP further accused the President of having abdicated his duty as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, “thereby enabling desperate political actors within the APC in Imo to endlessly terrorize the state and mow down perceived political foes as it pleases them.”

The party further noted that despite its call for the disbandment of the Ebubeagu Militia, redeployment of heads of security agencies and the establishment of an independent panel of inquiry to unravel the Imo killings, nothing has been done by the Federal Government.

“The masterminds of the attacks on Ikenga Ugochinyere must be arrested and brought to book before Imo is plunged into full-blown anarchy and a very bitter, bloody war.

“Finally, our party urges Ideato people, PDP members and overwhelming supporters of Ikenga Ugochinyere to stand strong and never allow forces of darkness prevail over their land,” PDP stated.