Nobody Has The Monopoly Of Violence-PDP Ebonyi Lawmakers
Caroline Ameh
Serving PDP lawmakers from Ebonyi state in the National Assembly, has declared that nobody has the monopoly of violence, but as responsible citizens, they have to let go off a lot.
The lawmakers made this known in a joint press briefing by senators and house of Representative members from the state on Tuesday.
The lawmakers drew the attention of the relevant Security Agencies in the country to the deteriorating security situation in Ebonyi State, occasioned by the indiscriminate arming of known Cultists, and Agents of the Ebonyi State Government.
They raised alarm and concern over the senseless killing of security personnel in the lawful discharge of their duties.
According to them, the situation has been further compounded by the wide scale distribution of pump-action and AK-47 rifles and ammunition to young men throughout the 13 Local Government Areas of the State by the State Government under the guise of vigilantee/Ebubeagu.
The latest of these heinous crimes according to them is the attempted murder of one Barrister Amos Ogbonnaya, a former coordinator of a Development centre in Ebonyi State. The said Barrister Amos on the 4‘ of May 2021 had appeared on an AIT live programme (JIGSAW) and spoke on the corruption and poor governance activities of the Ebonyi State Government. On the 13°” of May, 2021, Barrister Amos was kidnapped in his village, Okposi, by a gang led by the Personal Assistant to the Governor named Chinonso Obasi aka “CONSIDER” in broad day light, and operating in a State Government owned white Hilux vehicle.
“As it stands today in Ebonyi State, it is impossible to draw a line between the criminal activities of agents of the State Government, and that of other groups. Today, Ebonyi State is awash with weapons supplied and distributed by the State Government, to persons who are undocumented, nor trained in weapons handling ostensibly for use against perceived political opponents”.
“It is important to state here that Governor Nweze Umahi’s resort to arming thugs and Cultists across Ebonyi State is his response to the refusal of major political stakeholders in the State who rejected and refused to decamp with him from the PDP to the APC. For this reason, Governor Umahi has decided to procure and distribute arms and ammunition to thugs, cultists and some of his appointees under the guise of vigilante/Ebube-agu to intimidate and stifle the Peoples Democratic Party in Ebonyi State. It is for this reason that Ebonyi State has become the first and only state in the South East to inaugurate and arm the so-called Ebube-Agu”.
The lawmakers also said that as law abiding citizens, they have written to the Inspector General of Police and heads of relevant Security Agencies on the deteriorating security situation in Ebonyi State. “In the petitions, we have documented violent attacks, attempted murder and murder of Ebonyi citizens by agents of the State Government, in the most recent past”, they said.
