An All Progressives Grand Alliance supporter in Ebonyi State, Amobi Ujar, was on Saturday allegedly beaten to a pulp by members of the state’s security outfit, Ebubeagu.
Our correspondent gathered that the victim, Ujar, allegedly got a call from a supposed Ebubeagu informant and was lured to the Why Worry area of Amaehara Village, in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state where he was allegedly beaten to a coma by operatives of the outfit. It was further alleged that the operatives hung the campaign banner of Governor David Umahi on his neck and coerced him to make a ‘confessional statement’ against himself and his party, APGA.
A source in the area, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, claimed the victim, an auto technician, thought he was being called to fix a faulty vehicle for some holidaymakers but was unfortunately framed up and beaten mercilessly.
“Amobi is just a child of circumstance. He was in his house when someone, who works for the APC, called him and asked him to come to Why Worry. All of a sudden, the Ebubeagu people pounced on him and started beating him.
“If not for passersby, who knew what they planned to do to him, maybe they could have even killed him. He was beaten and forced to say he was working for the APGA to pull down all the campaign materials of APC candidates in the area. But we know it’s all lies. He didn’t do anything. The APC agents are the ones pulling down campaign materials of other opposition politicians in the area and the entire state,” the source alleged.
However, in his reaction, the Ebubeagu Commander in Ebonyi State, Friday Nnana-Ujor, confirmed the incident but said Ujar was not framed up, but was arrested while destroying campaign banners belonging to the APC candidates in the area.
“Don’t call it attack, because attack is war-like. But the truth of the matter is that the suspect, who is an APGA supporter in Afikpo North, was caught tearing billboards of the APC candidates and so, my men arrested him.
“Nobody is framing anybody up as far as the issue of campaign billboards are concerned, in Ebonyi State. People will destroy campaign materials in the state and tag it that the APC members are responsible.
“Even in meetings, Governor Umahi has on several occasions, said that nobody should touch any campaign material of any candidate despite party affiliations; and so we strictly keep to that instruction. And even in this state, we have caught the PDP members tearing billboards of their own candidates.
“This is just to let you know that we are non-partisan and that we do our job without being biased. So, the man was arrested committing a crime. He was not framed up. He was not forced to confess. He was not attacked.”
Meanwhile, Iheukwumere Okogwu-Otu, a supporter of the APGA senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South Zone, has alleged that Ebubeagu operatives invaded his house in the Afikpo North council and carted away valuable items.
He claimed that his life and those of his family members were under threat, adding, “As we speak now, I am not in my house, for fear of being attacked or possibly killed.”
He said, “I don’t know why they went to my house. I went out early this morning for an exercise and all of a sudden, my mother called me and announced that Ebubeagu people were in my house.
“As some of them were talking to my mother outside, others had broken into the apartment through the ground floor. They took one bike from my house, took some important or valuable items. They also fired and punctured the tyres of the APGA campaign Sienna bus parked in my compound.
“This is getting out of hand. My life and that of my family are no longer safe. I call on the security agencies to swing into action and to find out what the Ebebeagu people are up to.”
