The last may not have been heard of the botched
assassination attempt on the life of the Speaker of the Delta State House of
Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Onyekachi Ochei, when an explosion rocked the venue
of a scheduled consultative meeting with party faithful at Obomkpa, Aniocha
North LGA on November 1, 2013.
The latest in the series of events connected to the explosion
occurred on Thursday, November 7, 2013 when angry youths, in their hundreds,
stormed Delta State government House to protest what they regarded as a failed
assassination plot against the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Rt.
Hon. Victor Ochei.
Recall that the Speaker narrowly escaped being killed by an
explosion that rocked the venue of his meeting with party at Obomkpa in Aniocha
North Local Government Area of the state.
The angry youths, who stormed the gate of Delta State
government House at about 10am, categorically pointed accusing fingers at the
Chairman of the Delta State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Nkem
Okwuofu, as the master-minder of the explosion and carried placards with
various descriptions, including: “Enough is Enough Madam, Your Time is Up”, No
Hiding Place for the Wicked”, “Agwu Vampire…But Why?” “Stop Feasting on the
Blood of Innocent Youths”, Obomkpa Youths Condemn Violence”, “Hon. Ochei is a
Worthy Representative”, “Madam, You are not above the Law”, “We Say No To Political
Assassination”, “Madam, Stop Giving Obomkpa Bad Name”, amongst others.
In a statement signed by Chux Nwaebuni, Rose Odeiga and Osita
Amechi, the youths who were clearly identified as Obomkpa Indigenes from Ward
3, (comprising Obomkpa, Idumu-Ogo and Ugboba), where Chief Nkem Okwuofu also
hails from, condemned in the strongest terms,, what the referred as the devious
attempt to assassinate the Speaker in Obomkpa, while on a thank you visit to
the community.
The statement, which described the act as barbaric and
unacceptable equally called on politicians to desist from acts capable of
casting aspersion and heating up the polity, even as it added that the
“criminal act was perpetrated by a few misguided, self-seeking individuals and
not the entire people of the community”.
The statement further noted that “the perpetrator and
collaborators of this condemnable act are unfortunately members of the
community who are well known to us and, if given appropriate protection, we
guarantee that we would collaborate with law enforcement agencies to fish them
out”.
The statement then went on to assure Speaker Ochei thus:
Mr. Speaker can rest be assured that the good people of ward
three, Aniocha North Local Government Area are solidly behind him. This
ugly incident should therefore not discourage him from continuing the delivery
of dividends of democracy to the people of the ward”.
While thanking God that there were no loss of loss of lives
following the explosion, the statement prayed for divine guidance for Speaker Ochei
to continue the excellent representation of his primary constituency and the
legislative affairs of the Assembly.
“The entire youths of ward 3, hereby pass a vote of implicit
confidence on Mr. Speaker for his excellent and exemplary representation” the
statement concluded.
This condemnation of the explosion and attempted
assassination on the life of Speaker Victor is coming on the heels of another
strong condemnation by the members of the Delta State House of Assembly.
Recall that the Delta State House of Assembly had on Tuesday
November 5, 2013, not only condemned the already confirmed botched attempt to
assassinate Speaker Ochei, but also called on security agencies in the state to
investigate the alleged assassination attempt on its Speaker, Hon. Victor
Ochei.
Hon. Samuel Mariere, representing Ughelli North I
Constituency had raised a motion criticizing the assassination attempt and said
there was the need for an urgent investigation to ensure that the perpetrators
were brought to book, adding that if not for God, the story would have been a
different one.
The motion was unanimously adopted and the assembly passed
the resolution.
Also recall that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta state
had earlier cautioned politicians in the State to guard against heating up the
polity by their actions and utterances.
The governor, who spoke against the backdrop of the
allegations and counter-allegations following the canon explosion at Obomkpa in
Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state with, stressed the need for
everyone to remain calm.
He said: “I want to urge politicians and all Deltans to be
calm and patient with the police currently investigating the matter to come up
with their findings.
“We should also conduct ourselves in a manner that will not
heat up the polity especially now that political activities are on the
increase.”
Governor Uduaghan who made these comments on the evening of
Monday, November 4, 2013 shortly after visiting the victim of the explosion,
Perpetual Damasus, who was receiving treatment at the Delta State University
Teaching Hospital, Oghara, equally urged politicians and Deltans in general not
to speculate on the incident as the police was still investigating it.
He then assured residents of the state of safety of lives and
property, adding that the State Government was on top of the security
situation.
The Delta State Police Command has since confirmed that the
explosion that rocked the venue of a scheduled meeting between Speaker Ochei
and political loyalists and chieftains in Obomkpa, was indeed an assassination
attempt on the life of the Speaker.
Chief Nkem Okwuofu has also since defended herself of the
allegations that she may have been involved with the explosion incident
and had equally condemned the act, even as emphasized that she had no
reason to want to harm Speaker Ochei and also called on law enforcement
agencies to unravel the case as soon as possible.
Source:
FlashpointNews
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