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Tag: Ebonyi State

  • BREAKING: Gov Umahi orders arrest of his State party chairman

    BREAKING: Gov Umahi orders arrest of his State party chairman

    Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has ordered the arrest of the State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha and a party Chieftain, Chief Eni Chima over communal unrest.

    This is following a supremacy battle between supporters of Okoro-Emegha and Chima, the House of Representatives candidate for Afikpo North/South federal constituency at Ekoli-Edda, Afikpo South LGA, on December 26.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) learnt that the supremacy battle led to the death of three persons and the destruction of property worth millions of naira including Okoro-Emegha’s house.

    The order of arrest was contained in a statement signed by Umahi”s Special Assistant on Media and Strategy, Mr Chooks Oko and made available to newsmen on Tuesday.

    Oko, in the statement, said that the govenor during an  assessment tour of the area to determine the level of damages, expressed dismay at the unfortunate development.

    The governor directed the state commissioner of police to arrest all those connected with the carnage and ensure they face justice.

    The governor announced the suspension of all social gatherings in Edda until normalcy returns.

    “He also urged the commissioner of police to deploy adequate security presence in the area to forestall further breakdown of law and order,” the statement read.

    The governor’s aide remarked that the entire  Ekoli-Edda has been cordoned by a combined team of the Police, Army and the Ebubeagu security outfit.

    Recall that the fratricidal Ezillo/ Ezza-Ezillo communal crisis in the state was equally caused by two major political gladiators from the area.

    Police confirm killings of 3 persons, destruction of Ebonyi APC chairman’s residence

    Meanwhile, the Police Command in Ebonyi has confirmed the killing of three persons and burning of the residential building of Okoro-Emegha, the state APC Chairman.

    The three persons killed are Kalu Egwu, a youth leader, Eme Orji, a younger brother of the State APC Chairman and an Inspector of Police attached to the Special Protection Unit (SPU).

    SP Chris Anyanwu, Spokesman of the command told newsmen in Abakaliki on Tuesday, that the attack occurred on Monday evening at Ekoli Edda Community in Afikpo local Government Area of the state.

    Anyanwu noted that the Police Command was presently investigating the murder case and malicious damages to Government and infividuals property in the area.

    He explained that the incident resulted from apparent struggle for supremacy and who controlled the area politically among two notable political stalwarts in Ekoli-Edda, Afikpo South LGA of the State.

    “At about 1630hrs of Dec 26, a day popularly known as “Boxing Day”, a distress call was received that sporadic shootings and killings were going on at Ekoli-Edda between Ebubeagu operatives who accompanied their boss, Mr Stanley Okoro-Emegha, the State’s APC Chairman.

    “The open shoot-out was not far-fetched from previous grudges existing among the political factions.

    “In the process, a youth leader identified as Kalu Egwu was fatally wounded, later rushed to a neighboring hospital at Ohafia, Abia State where he was confirmed dead.

    “Angered by his death, the youth of the area mobilized and went on rampage, killing Eme Orji, a younger brother of the State APC Chairman and an Inspector of Police attached to SPU.

    “The irate youth equally set ablaze the village house of Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha, his Toyota Hilux van and a Toyota SIENNA space bus belonging to the Police Command’s Tactical Teams.

    “When the Tactical Teams were despatched to Ekoli-Edda to take control of the situation, they were ambushed by the youth of the area at the village entrance. However, the operatives manouevred unhurt,” he stated.

    Anyanwu said that the bodies of the three deceased persons have been evacuated and deposited at different morgues in the state.

    “Two suspects were arrested among the irate youth while others are still at large.

  • Police discover biggest bomb factory in Ebonyi state

    Police discover biggest bomb factory in Ebonyi state

    The Ebonyi state police command has said that it has discovered the biggest bomb factory where the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), and Eastern Security Network, (ESN) produce some explosives and other dangerous weapons.

    According to the Police in Ebonyi state, the bomb factory is the biggest in the southeast region of the country.

    The Command said the IPOB/ESN bomb factory was located at Obegu, a boundary area between Onicha-Isu and Ishielu Local government areas of Ebonyi State.

    Ayanwu noted that the police discovered the bomb factory after a gun battle between his men and ESN soldiers.

    The police chief said that the bomb factory is capable of causing mass killings and damages.

    Anyanwu said the bomb factory is capable of causing mass killings and damages.

    He disclosed that two members of ESN and a State Commander died during the gun-battle which ensued when policemen on investigation were attacked along Agba-Isu road on Wednesday.

    He disclosed that some of the policemen sustained injuries during the operation.

    He noted that following the gun duel, a joint team of the Command’s Tactical Teams, the Military and DSS, armed with credible information, swooped on the houses/residences of the Commander and others.

    The Command spokesman said searches carried out on the residences led to the discoveries of Improvised Explosive Devices and parts used in making IEDs.

    A statement by Anyanwu reads partly: “A quick trail and joint effort with a team of detectives attached to Ohaukwu Division led to the arrest of Sunday Ubah, a.k.a Bongo, the State Commander of the IPOB/ESN in Ebonyi State.

    “The Police bomb expert in the Command described it as a complete Bomb Factory – the biggest in the South-East and that each of the hand grenades (first of its kind) is capable of causing colossal damage to buildings and mass killing of humans.”

    Meanwhile, the IPOB has repeatedly denied being involved in any form of violence or arms deal.

  • LGA Election: Court sacks council chairmen, councillors in Ebonyi

    LGA Election: Court sacks council chairmen, councillors in Ebonyi

    A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki has again nullified the Ebonyi Local Government Elections and sacked all the 13 Council chairmen in the state.

    The court also sacked all the councillors and 171 ward chairmen of the state. Recall that the court had on Aug. 25, nullified the council polls of May 31.

    Ruling on the matter with suit NO: FHC/AI/CS/224/2022 on Friday, Justice Fatun Riman ordered the seizure of the monthly federal allocation of the chairmen pending when rightful Chief Executives were elected into office.

    Fatun restated that the councils election by the State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) on May 31 was illegal and unconstitutional.

    Mr Mudi Erenede, Counsel to the plaintiff said he was happy over the judgment and commended the court.

    “In the judgement today, the court has agreed that the Ebonyi State High court has no powers to override or set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court because it is not an Appeal Court.

    “Those people, who are parading themselves as chairmen are not there legally.

    “They were appointed by whoever that appointed them. CBN, Attorney General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance are all defendants in this suits,” he stated.

    The counsel to Ebonyi State Government, Mr Roy Nweze, said there was no need responding to a judgment that had already been delivered by the court.

    Nweze said that the matter would be appealed without delay.

  • INEC counts losses as hoodlums raze office in Ebonyi

    INEC counts losses as hoodlums raze office in Ebonyi

    Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and other items were destroyed when some hoodlums set the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on fire.

    “The incident occurred around 10.00 am when some unidentified persons set the entire building ablaze,” INEC’s National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said in a Sunday statement.

    “Although no casualties resulted from the attack, the main building and all the movable and immovable items inside it were destroyed. These include 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, large water storage tanks, assorted office furniture and fixtures, and yet-to-be-determined quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).”

    He said security agencies have been informed about the most recent incident and that an investigation has started.

    “Sadly, this is the third attack on our local government office in less than three weeks following similar attacks on our offices in Ogun and Osun states on 10th November 2022,” Okoye said.

    Election offices have been attacked recently in the country’s southeast, where separatists are seeking a breakaway state for the local Igbo people, but attacks in the southwest are rarer.

    Security will be a major issue in the election with the armed forces battling an insurgency in the northeast, heavily armed criminal gangs in the northwest and central states, and separatist agitators in the southeast.

    Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has also been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, fallout from the war in Ukraine, and its worst flooding in a decade that has impacted farms and food production.

    Nigerians go to the ballot box in February to vote for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army commander who steps down after two terms in office.

  • Gov. Dave Umahi approves christmas bonus for Ebonyi workers

    Gov. Dave Umahi approves christmas bonus for Ebonyi workers

    As part of efforts of the Ebonyi state government’s social contract to Civil Servants, the governor of Ebonyi state, David Nweze Umahi, has directed the early payment of christmas bonus of Fifteen Thousand Naira each, to Ebonyi state workers.

    The governor also added that civil servants in the State, should be paid their November and December salaries together before December 10, 2022, in order to give workers enough time and resources to plan ahead for the Christmas and New year celebrations.

    This was known in a statement from the office of the Accountant General of the State, Emeka Nwankwo, made available to the office of the Special Assistant (SA) on Media and Strategy to Ebonyi State Governor, Saturday.

    The statement reads in part: “In keeping with Ebonyi State Government’s social contract with our Civil Servants to ensure that they enjoy the holiday season despite the late arrival of FAAC allocations to the State in recent months, His Excellency the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Chief David Umahi Nweze FNSE, FNATE, CON, has directed that Overdraft facilities should be obtained from banks and that the State and Local Government Areas must pay November and December Salaries together with the Christmas bonus of Fifteen Thousand Naira to all Civil Servants by 10th December 2022.

    “This is to ensure that our Civil Servants have enough time to plan their Yuletide celebrations while also enjoying the holiday season.”

    Recall that Governor Umahi, in line with his avowed commitment to the welfare of workers, has always extended these gestures to Civil and Public servants in the State every year, right from the inception of his administration.

    These financial benefits are always complemented by other material gifts such as bags of rice.

    It is expected that this benevolence from the Governor would further spur the diligence and dedication of State Civil and Public servants to their duties.

  • 2023: RCCG declares support for members vying for political positions

    2023: RCCG declares support for members vying for political positions

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has urged its worshippers to mobilise support for its members vying for various political positions in the 2023 general elections.

    Pastor Ralph Afalagboye, Regional Evangelist of the Church in Ebonyi State in his sermon titled, “Living in Covenant” on Sunday in Abakaliki disclosed this as the position the church has taken for the 2023 elections.

    Pastor Afalagboye stressed that its members would continue to be a top priority in terms of support in the upcoming elections.

    Afalagboye in the sermon emphasized the need to have a covenant with God, stressing that such act could bring victory, and peace amongst others.

    He prayed for victory for all its members seeking for political positions, including the Ebonyi Gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr IfeanyiChukwuma Odii, who attended the Church.

    “Covenant with God can help to achieve promotions and favours from above. There is need to always draw closer to God because when you are in Christ, you become a new creature and old things will pass away.

    “God never forget His own people. I declare covenant for safety and peace for the nation and for citizens; covenant for promotion and for victory. I prayed as a child of God, you are to be victorious in all you do.

    “In this 2023 election, we are supporting every one of our members, irrespective of the political parties. We have no party but this is our position. Our members are our top priority in the coming general elections. RCCG members must know that our member is our own,” he said.

    In his response, Odii, PDP Gubernatorial Candidate, expressed gratitude to RCCG church for their prayers and support at ensuring that he becomes the Governor of Ebonyi.

    “I sincerely appreciate the support and the prayers I have been receiving. May the Almighty God continue to make the way and I believe in the end, the outcome will be victorious,” Odii said.

  • Supreme Court strikes out request to review judgment on PDP guber ticket

    Supreme Court strikes out request to review judgment on PDP guber ticket

    The Supreme Court has struck out a request by a factional governorship aspirant in Ebonyi, Sen. Obinna Ogba, for a review of its Sept. 14 judgment upholding Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma as the state Governorship Candidate of the PDP in the 2023 elections.

    The apex court, presided over by Justice Amina Augie, on Friday struck out the request, following the dramatic withdrawal of a motion to that effect by Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, counsel to Ogba.

    Erokoro had attempted to argue for a prayer for the court to review its earlier judgment which recognised Ifeanyi as the PDP governorship candidate.

    However, sensing the mood of the court to the request, the senior lawyer beat a retreat and dramatically withdrew processes filed on behalf of his client when it became apparent that the Apex Court would not yield to the request.

    Before the withdrawal, counsel to Chukwuma, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, had opposed the request of the factional governorship candidate on the ground that it constituted a gross abuse of the apex court.

    Uche, who led a team of senior lawyers in the matter, had prayed the court to uphold its finality policy as the highest court in the land, adding that any attempt to grant the request of Ogba would not augur well for the judiciary.

    The senior lawyer pleaded with the apex court to turn down the request for being frivolous, unmeritorious, and a strange invitation that must not be honoured by the court.

    The Supreme Court had on Sept. 14 in its judgment in an appeal marked SC/CV/939/2022, affirmed Chukwuma Odii Ifeanyi as the authentic PDP governorship candidate.

    He had emerged from a primary election conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

    The court had struck out the appeal on the ground that nomination of candidates for elective office was an internal affair of political parties and that no court had jurisdiction to entertain it.

    However, dissatisfied, Ogba returned to the same court, seeking a review of the judgment.

  • Gunmen set council headquarters ablaze in Ebonyi

    Gunmen set council headquarters ablaze in Ebonyi

    The Ebonyi Police Command has confirmed the attack on a section of Ezza North Local Government Headquarters by unidentified gunmen.

    The hoodlums set the property on fire on Monday morning and left valuables worth millions of naira destroyed.

    The command’s Spokesman, SP Chris Anyanwu, in Abakaliki on Monday said that the command was aware of the incident.

    Anyanwu said: “We are aware of the attack but yet to get the full details. Right now, investigation is ongoing to get the details but no arrest has been made.”

    Narrating the incident to newsmen in his office, the Chairman of the council, Mr Ogodo Nomeh, said the attack occured in the early hours of Monday.

    Nomeh said: “The hoodlums engaged the security operatives in the council in a gunbattle.

    “Some of the hoodlums sustained gunshot injuries. So far, no arrest has been made because the incident happened in the night.

    “There were so much gunshots and many of the gunmen were injured. Right now, we are moving from one hospital to another to check for people that have gunshot injuries.

    “We are not suspecting anybody now until we apprehend the suspects. You know the thing happened around 2am.

    “We are talking with security operatives that had encounter with the hoodlums,” he further said.

  • Police vow to track down killers of Chinese in Ebonyi

    Police vow to track down killers of Chinese in Ebonyi

    The police in Ebonyi State on Monday vowed that they would track down gunmen who attacked a mining site close to the state’s border with Benue on Saturday.

    The assailants shot sporadically at workers in the process of which a Chinese and a policeman sustained gunshot injuries. The Chinese later died in hospital.

    The mining site is located at Otam Nwogba village in Izzi local government area of Ebonyi.

    Police spokesman, SP Chris Anyanwu, stated on Monday at Abakaliki that the gunmen besieged the area and shot sporadically at the security men on duty at the company.

    “One of the policemen on duty sustained serious bullet injuries and is still receiving treatment,’’ he stated.

    Anyanwu urged members of the public to join hands in fishing out the miscreants by giving prompt and reliable information concerning their identities and or location to the police.

  • Gunmen disarm police, kill Chinese In Ebonyi community

    Gunmen disarm police, kill Chinese In Ebonyi community

    Suspected gunmen have disarmed some policemen and killed a Chinese expatriate at a mining site in Iboko, Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi.

    However, SP Chris Anyanwu, Spokesperson, Police Command in Ebonyi, who spoke on the telephone in Abakaliki on Sunday, said the incident was yet to be confirmed by the command.

    “It has not been confirmed, but believe me, I will confirm that tomorrow,” Anyanwu said.

    Mr Steve Emenike, Chairman of Izzi Local Government Area of the State, described the killing as an ’embarrassment”.

    Emenike explained that the suspected hoodlums came on motorbikes.

    He said the council had reconstituted formidable Vigilante Group and banned motorbikes operation between of 7 p.m, and 6 a.m. in the area.

    “We are working hard to find the causes of the matter and we’re working with security agencies, including the Police and DSS to investigate the matter and ensure the perpetrators are brought to book.

    “We can no longer accept or tolerate this spare of insecurity. Our people are peaceful and we cannot allow evil to germinate.

    Some eyewitnesses, who prefer anonymity, said the hoodlums disarmed the policemen, who were guarding the Chinese during the attack.

    “The corpse of the victim has been deposited at a mortuary in Abakaliki,” he added.