By Reuben Onyishi
(Ugoachataberu)
Enugu Labour Party led by Barr Chijioke Edeoga under the chairmanship of one Casmir Agbo has of late shown utter disregard for human lives,, playing 2027 politics with the unfortunate security breaches at Adani in Uzo Uwani and Ikem in Isi-Uzo. Edeoga and Agbo had in two different statements exploited the unfortunate incidents for political gains, claiming that Governor Mbah did not visit the two places, and that non of his media aides issued any statement to the unfortunate development, and by so doing, it is a sign of incompetence on the leadership of the state.
Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah from the inception of his administration had given security prime attention, and did achieve a milage in securing Enugu State, something that earned him an award by New Telegraph Newspaper as the Governor of the Year with special emphasis on Courage in Leadership.
No sooner was Mbah sworn in than he ended the sit-at-home syndrome in the state with its security implications. He successfully secured the state against the menace of non-state actors who had taken infernal grip on the state’s security and economy. Mbah went ahead to establish the Distress Response Squad, bought over a hundred patrol vehicles for the team, and built a command base equipped with CCTV cameras through which activities in Enugu are monitored. The DRS patrols the length and breath of the city and has successfully policed the city.
Before the advent of the Mbah Administration, kidnapping was all the rage in the state. It was a national challenge which even Edeoga acknowledged during the governorship electioneering campaigns, saying that if he was elected the governor, he would have no idea of what to do about kidnapping, killings and banditry, for they were a national challenge. But upon his assumption of office, Governor Mbah quickly swung into action and retrieved the state from the menace of kidnappers, most of whom had been neutralized. The Opi Nsukka- Ugwuogo Road, Ugwuogo-Mbu -Isi-Uzo Road, Four Corner Road along Enugu-Port Harcourt Highway, being the flash points of kidnapping, were cleared of kidnappers. A joint team of the police, the military, and forest guards went into the bushes and cleared them of kidnappers, most of whom were allegedly herdsmen.
A couple of weeks ago, the Enugu Labour Party misrepresented facts about the state government’s ranch programme meant to stem the tide of open grazing, food insecurity, and farmer-herder clashes. The programme, which was at the design stage, was meant to establish ranches in Uzo-Uwani, Isi-Uzo, and Oji River. Edeoga’ media boys distorted the import of the programme and sold a dummy to the people. They instigated the people of Uzo-Uwani to protest against the programme mischiviously tagging it ruga for the Fulani, even when they know ranching is the international best practice for animal farming. Today, the same people who claimed ranches were ruga have attributed the killings to Fulani herders, yet they had claimed ranches would position the Fulani for killings. Quite contradictory!
Enugu State had been peaceful until a few days ago when in gorilla hit-and-run manner some daredevil bloodhounds killed two persons in Adani, Uzo-Uwani and one person at Ikem in Isi-Uzo. Edeoga and Agbo, in their statements, claimed Fulani herdsmen were responsible for the killings. No one is deceived. The police would have to say so, as the length to which desperate politicians can go in their inordinate quest for power is not lost on anyone, especially now that all the Enugu Labour Party does is seek the occasion to discredit the Mbah Administration.
Governor Peter Mbah, in his characteristic manner of taking prompt actions against any iota of security breach in the state, despatched a crack team of the police led by the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, CP Uzuegbu to Adani. The SSA Security to the Governor and the CSO of Government House were equally despatched to Ikem and Adani, respectively, with their teams. A video of the CP addressing the people of Adani and the relations of the victims is in the public domain. The CP said it clearly that he and his team were despatched by the governor and that they would not leave Adani until the criminal killers were rounded up. The teams have since then been at Adani and Ikem, combing the forests and suspected hideouts of the criminals.
It is curious that having this information about the actions the state government had taken, Chijioke Edeoga and one Casmir Agbo, who says he is the Enugu State chairman of Labour Party, would issue statements of lies, downright falsehoods and political propaganda in order to give a wrong impression about the governor before the people of the state, playing politics with human lives in pretentious sympathy for the victims.
Enugu Labour Party and its handlers have a bad reputation for misrepresenting facts and peddling damaging falsehoods in the bid to score cheap political points. They do it with mindless impunity and absolute unbecoming brazenness, even as such lies are laid bare before the people. But then, such malfeasance should have a limit. Exploiting the unfortunate killing of persons for political gains is the worst form of inhumanity and savagery.
The good people of Enugu State should discountenance the statements issued by Edeoga and Agbo. Both statements are misguided pieces of misinformation and propaganda fit for acts of primitive animalism. Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is not a showman. He swung into action promptly without issuing unnecessary political statements over the murder of his subjects, as Labour Party is wont to do. While His Excellency, Barr. Mbah, sympathises with the relations of the victims and the people of Adani and Ikem, respectively, he has vowed to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crimes to justice.
