By Ruth Oginyi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has threatened to use legal process to stop the Ebonyi State Government to use operatives of the recently created Southeast security outfit – Ebube-Agu – to stamp the voices and the activities of the opposition in the state.
PDP alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) led state government was using Ebubeagu to intimidate the opposition party members.
The party, however, has directed its legal team to immediately institute legal action against the state government over the alleged illegal operations of Ebubeagu in the state.
Chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Tochukwu Okorie, disclosed this in a New Year message to the people of Ebonyi.
Okorie said the directive came following the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum the party issued to the state government to disband Ebubeagu which it described as an illegal security outfit.
According to him, PDP was highly disappointed in the “continued empowerment of the murderous syndicate called Ebubeagu” by the Ebonyi State Government, alleging that the menacing presence of this syndicate has continued to threaten the existence of Ebonyi people and their economic drive.
“In our previous press statement, we frowned at the unbridled fertilization of this terror group by the state government which continues to empower them to act dastardly and brutally against the lives and property of our people and residents.
“We have records of Ebubeagu’s attacks on innocent lives and property of Ebonyi people and we wonder why relevant security agencies are doing nothing to curtail this development to avert what might transcend into a state of lawlessness in the state moreover as the 2023 general elections draw close.
“Our investigations have revealed that this band of terrorists is being maintained for use by the APC state government of Ebonyi State to prosecute the 2023 elections and stampede the voices and activities of the opposition in the state. The People’s Democratic Party in Ebonyi state will resist this evil plot to the fullest extent of our ability and the law.
“Following the expiration of the 14-Day ultimatum we earlier issued for the disbandment of the Ebubeagu terror organization, we have directed our legal team to immediately commence processes to challenge its existence and have them proscribed as a terror organization that it is.
“Already we have written to relevant security agencies, bringing their attention to the nefarious activities of state-sponsored terror groups, and we hope that the agencies will rise to their responsibilities and bring the atrocious activities of Ebubeagu to an immediate halt.
PDP condemned the seizure of salaries of civil servants from Ohaukwu and urged the state government to take responsibility for the insecurity in the state and not to resort to blame game.
“We condemn in strong terms the continued seizure of the December salaries of civil servants from the entire Ohaukwu LGA of the state over the crisis rocking a part of the LGA. There is absolutely no basis for seizing salaries of civil servants on account of insecurity in the area arising from failure of governance at the state level.
“We urge the state government to release the salaries and other benefits accruing to them without further delay and take responsibility for the cloud of insecurity that continues to hover over the entire state rather than making scapegoats of innocent civil servants. In the same vein, we empathize with these workers for the hunger strike the state government subjected them to in a season that should have everyone celebrating the goodness of God in their lives.
“We reiterate our concern over the continued missing of the NELAN engineers supervising construction works on the Abakaliki Ring Road Project – Effium axis. We urge the state government to up their efforts at finding them either alive or dead and make public the result of their investigations immediately to give closure to the grieving families of the victims. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected companies and families, assuring them that we will continue to lend our voice to the process of unraveling the mystery surrounding their sad disappearance.
“We have noticed that the Ebonyi State Government has stalled the recruitment exercise into the state’s civil service which it initiated in November 2021. We hope that this is in response to the position of the PDP that the exercise was an ambush against the incoming PDP-led government in 2023. If that is the case, we commend the government for dropping the exercise. However, we will not hesitate to expose any underhand dealing that may be going on behind the scenes in respect of that exercise.
“The static motion of ongoing projects in the state is cause for concern to Ebonyi people and residents. We urge the governor to pursue the completion of the ongoing projects, stop initiating fresh ones as there’s not much time left for his administration before it gets embroiled in the 2023 election fever. Ebonyi people do not deserve to have abandoned projects littered in the state under the Umahi administration. We urge the government to pursue completion of the airport project, abandoned roads projects, community medical structures, and others rather than play populist politics with economically senseless new projects.
“Finally, we wish to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the leaders of our great party in Ebonyi State for their steadfast efforts in giving direction to the party and positioning it to the enviable position it occupies today.
“We appreciate the National Assembly Caucus of the PDP in Ebonyi State ably led by Senator Dr. Sam Egwu for providing Christmas and New Year largesse for party members at all levels, a gesture which re-enacted the creeds of the party in the consciousness of Ebonyi people and residents.
“We thank party members and those who joined us during the yuletide for choosing to be under the umbrella for a better tomorrow for Ebonyi State. As the executive committee of the party, we are poised to take the party to higher heights and prepare it for the business of 2023”, the statement said.
