A frontline Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the heads of security forces and the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not to allow themselves to be used for political witchunt of leaders of the Ebonyi State chapter of the People’s Democratic party (PDP).
HURIWA stated that these select PDP Chiefs include the past and current national Assembly members just as the Rights group said the governor of Ebonyi State Mr. Dave Umahi is playing political pranks with the serious national security issues by attempting to rope in some Peoples Democratic party chieftains into a phantom allegations of funding cultists to torment crisis in Ebonyi State.
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) spoke against the backdrop of the accusations based on tissues of gossips and conjectures made by Governor Dave Umahi against some PDP leaders in Ebonyi state including national Assembly members from Ebonyi State elected on the platform of the PDP and who refused to cross carpet to the All Progressives Congress alongside the governor of Ebonyi State.
The Rights group said the Ebonyi State governor must be called to order so he does not muddy up and mess up the security forces still smarting from the monumental public image FIASCO created by their roles in shooting peaceful protesters in LEKKI Toll Gates Lagos on October 20th 2020 which is already a matter of global concerns with Great Britain threatening to slam diplomatic sanctions on Nigeria for the violence unleashed by armed forces against peaceful protesters in LEKKI Toll Gates Lagos. “The police and the military are still battling to clean up the bad image. Let the Ebonyi State governor not be allowed to drag the heads of the nation’s armed forces into partisan politics and thereby scuttling their professional and institutional pride of place. “Umahi can not be the judge and prosecutor in his own case. He can’t be allowed to use what he even admitted to be fake news to accuse innocent Nigerians of sponsoring armed cultists to destabilize peace in Ebonyi State. Is he the Chief of defence staff or is he the Commander in chief of the Armed forces that he now determines who gets police security or not?”
HURIWA recalled that the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, on Friday alleged that one of his predecessors, Senator Sam Egwu, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Pius Anyim, and National Assembly members from his state who failed to cross over into APC with him were allegedly plotting to unsettle the peaceful atmosphere in the State.
HURIWA recalled that Mr. Umahi who made the vow to ‘wrestle’ his political rivals to the ground while briefing journalists shortly after a meeting with all security chiefs in the state made the following speculative and fictitious accusations against the select PDP leaders: “I want the media to note that I reported an allegation that some Ebonyi people are engaging cultists and according to them, some IPOB members to start killings and crisis in Ebonyi State in the name of fighting Ebonyi State government and the governor.
“And their leader is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and their members are Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, Mr Ali Odefa and others.
“This is alleged information I got and I needed to share this information with the security agency. The reason is that every governor in the state has been fought by the same set of people and it is very interesting to know that the same senator Pius Anyim fought the former governor Egwu and many people were killed.“I am not saying that this information is true or not but I needed to raise an alarm because lives will be lost, I pray to God that this shouldn’t be true. And I have asked the security agencies to reach out to them.
“Finally, I have also directed security agencies to ensure the implementation of policies on tinted glasses of vehicles in the state. The use of a siren and then the police escort”.
However, the Rights group said the governor should be arrested after the expiration of his immunity for building on speculation to try to frame up charges of sponsorship of cultists against respected political leaders only because they insisted on the grounds of principle, equity, freedom of choice and Constitutional freedom of ASSOCIATION to remain in the PDP whilst the governor who got every political privileges and offices and positions courtesy of the platform of the PDP then decided against rational thinking to move over to the ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS.
“HURIWA is calling on the Nigerian Police Force to keep Mr. Dave Umahi on their watch list so he is taken in to defend why he had to frame up allegations as weighty as sponsorship of armed cultists against persons who refused to defect with him to his newly found political family of All Progressives Congress and these allegations even by his own admission were not even as credible as the cheapest tissues of beer parlour gossips. We want to remind the heads of the nation’s security Architectures that not too long ago, the Nigeria Police accuse two men of providing false information leading to search on Ekweremadu’s building. HURIWA also wishes to remind the heads of Nigerian Security that the Nigeria Police Force went on to arraign a 50-year-old man, Ahmed Echodo, for allegedly misleading the police to conduct a raid at a building belonging to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
According to the one-count charge, two defendants were accused of the offence, although only Mr. Echodo was arraigned at a magistrate court in Abuja.
Security operatives had ransacked Mr. Ekweremadu’s building on Friday morning following information accusing the occupants of criminal offences. They found nothing incriminating during the search. HURIWA preaches equity and equality before the law. The governor of Ebonyi State who has admitted reporting PDP chiefs in his state over threats to the security of his state based on hear say and speculation should be made to face the long arm of the law because nobody is above the law. Ebonyi State governor is this same person who for good 6 years as PDP governor has been quoted to have praised all these persons who he is now demonizing as political demons. How come that for 6 years they were POLITICAL SAINTS and as soon as you move over to another political party and you wanted them to move with you and they as grown adults and persons of integrity refused to betray the PDP, you then picked up road side gossips that they are funding cultists and you are playing God threatening to withdraw the security details attached to them. We totally and absolutely CONDEMNS this resort to self help and the attempt through primitive and crude means to force persons who want to remain in PDP to join you in APC. We will be taking further advocacy action to ensure that governor of Ebonyi State does not think that he is the POLITICAL GOD OF THE SOUTH EAST AND THEREFORE WILL DETERMINE WHO GOES WITH POLICE PROTECTION OR NOT. This is absurdity taken too far”.
