Labour Party Cries out as Police Teargas Supporters in Ebonyi; Governor Umahi Denies Disrupting Rally

Labour Party (LP) has condemned the attack on the supporters of its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi in Ebonyi State on Saturday, describing it as a declaration of war on members of the party by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The party has also called on the APC to “be conscious of the fact that no one has the monopoly of violence.”
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has however, disclosed that he did not order the disruption of a solidarity rally by Obi’s supporters.
This is coming as the Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria (IBBN), a coalition formed by over 80 groups of individuals from different tribes, religions and walks of life, on Saturday shut down Jos, the Plateau State capital, with a massive rally in support of the presidential bid of Mr. Peter Obi of the LP.
The support groups also locked down Awka, the Anambra State capital, to drum support Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election.

However, a similar rally organised Saturday by the ‘ObI-dient Movement’ in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, was violently dispersed by operatives of the state police command.
The security operatives stormed the Pastoral Centre where the crowd had gathered and fired teargas and shot sporadically in the air.
This development caused heavy human and vehicular logjams in the capital city while people scampered for safety.

However, the crowd relocated to the Peoples Club event Centre where they also marched along the ever-busy Abakaliki-Enugu expressway.
One of the leaders of the group and Ebonyi South Senatorial Candidate of the Labour Party, Linus Okorie said it was a sad day for democracy in the state.

Reacting to the attack, the Labour Party has described it as a declaration of war on its members by the ruling APC in the state. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Arabambi Abayomi, the party said it “condemned the unprovoked attack with guns on the supporters of Labour Party in Ebonyi State by the Nigeria Police on behalf of the ruling APC government in Ebonyi State.
Abayomi said: “It is now very clear that APC is set to use its hidden and unhidden cells in the groups of the bandits and killers it has kept nurturing in troubling the peace and the wellbeing of Nigeria against the marked opposition Labour Party as the only political party that gives APC worries and fears for the daily increasing level of massive and wide support LP enjoys across the nation.”
But in a swift reaction, Governor Umahi has denied authorising the disruption of the solidarity rally by Obi’s supporters.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Strategy, Chooks Oko, the governor also denied knowledge of the incident.
“For record purposes, the relevant government agencies had approved the use of Abakaliki township stadium for a rally by the Labour party subject to the payment of some specified fees. Rather than pay the fees, it was gathered, the organisers chose to empty into the streets causing some untold hardships on the hapless citizens going about their daily pursuits.
“The police, we are told, had to step in to restore law and order,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, in Jos, the mammoth crowd of Obi’s supporters, simply tagged: ‘Obi Movement,’ adorned themselves in T-Shirts with various inscriptions in support of Obi/Datti presidential bid, and took over the entire Secretariat Junction in the city centre, before moving to other streets across the city.
After the rally, the crowd converged on the Rwang Pam Township Stadium where they were addressed by the convener of IBBN, Prophet Isa El-Buba Sadiq.

Earlier, on Friday evening, Obi’s supporters had gathered at the EBOMI International Conference Centre, Jos, where they prayed fervently for the presidential bid of Obi/Datti.
Addressing the crowd at the stadium, Sadiq stressed that a new Nigeria was possible because Nigeria is a nation that controls the black African countries.
He lamented that Nigerians have been oppressed for too long by those who feel they own the country.
He insisted that Obi will be the one to redeem Nigeria and give the people a life that Nigerians dream of.
He said, “The Chairman, Middle Belt Elders Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu had consulted with critical stakeholders in the Middle Belt and Nigeria on how to achieve this goal before we embarked on this. After much deliberation, we decided to go for someone in the South-east, and Obi surfaced as our ‘saviour’, and he will surely do that.”
In Anambra, Obi’s supporters marched from Alex Ekwueme Square, near the state House of Assembly in Awka, along Aroma to Eke-Awka road to the U-turn linking Kwata along Enugu-Awka Expressway and back to the Alex Ekwueme Square, where the supporters were addressed.

The rally, tagged, “two-million man march,” commenced at exactly 10 am.Seriki Adinoyi in Jos, Emameh Gabriel in Abuja and Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

Labour Party (LP) has condemned the attack on the supporters of its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi in Ebonyi State yesterday, describing it as a declaration of war on members of the party by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The party has also called on the APC to “be conscious of the fact that no one has the monopoly of violence.”
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has however, disclosed that he did not order the disruption of a solidarity rally by Obi’s supporters.
This is coming as the Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria (IBBN), a coalition formed by over 80 groups of individuals from different tribes, religions and walks of life, yesterday shut down Jos, the Plateau State capital, with a massive rally in support of the presidential bid of Mr. Peter Obi of the LP.
The support groups also locked down Awka, the Anambra State capital, to drum support Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election.
However, a similar rally organised yesterday by the ‘ObI-dient Movement’ in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, was violently dispersed by operatives of the state police command.
The security operatives stormed the Pastoral Centre where the crowd had gathered and fired teargas and shot sporadically in the air.
This development caused heavy human and vehicular logjams in the capital city while people scampered for safety.
However, the crowd relocated to the Peoples Club event Centre where they also marched along the ever-busy Abakaliki-Enugu expressway.
One of the leaders of the group and Ebonyi South Senatorial Candidate of the Labour Party, Linus Okorie said it was a sad day for democracy in the state.

Reacting to the attack, the Labour Party has described it as a declaration of war on its members by the ruling APC in the state. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Arabambi Abayomi, the party said it “condemned the unprovoked attack with guns on the supporters of Labour Party in Ebonyi State by the Nigeria Police on behalf of the ruling APC government in Ebonyi State.
Abayomi said: “It is now very clear that APC is set to use its hidden and unhidden cells in the groups of the bandits and killers it has kept nurturing in troubling the peace and the wellbeing of Nigeria against the marked opposition Labour Party as the only political party that gives APC worries and fears for the daily increasing level of massive and wide support LP enjoys across the nation.”
But in a swift reaction, Governor Umahi has denied authorising the disruption of the solidarity rally by Obi’s supporters.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Strategy, Chooks Oko, the governor also denied knowledge of the incident.
“For record purposes, the relevant government agencies had approved the use of Abakaliki township stadium for a rally by the Labour party subject to the payment of some specified fees. Rather than pay the fees, it was gathered, the organisers chose to empty into the streets causing some untold hardships on the hapless citizens going about their daily pursuits.
“The police, we are told, had to step in to restore law and order,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, in Jos, the mammoth crowd of Obi’s supporters, simply tagged: ‘Obi Movement,’ adorned themselves in T-Shirts with various inscriptions in support of Obi/Datti presidential bid, and took over the entire Secretariat Junction in the city centre, before moving to other streets across the city.
After the rally, the crowd converged on the Rwang Pam Township Stadium where they were addressed by the convener of IBBN, Prophet Isa El-Buba Sadiq.

Earlier, on Friday evening, Obi’s supporters had gathered at the EBOMI International Conference Centre, Jos, where they prayed fervently for the presidential bid of Obi/Datti.
Addressing the crowd at the stadium, Sadiq stressed that a new Nigeria was possible because Nigeria is a nation that controls the black African countries.
He lamented that Nigerians have been oppressed for too long by those who feel they own the country.
He insisted that Obi will be the one to redeem Nigeria and give the people a life that Nigerians dream of.
He said, “The Chairman, Middle Belt Elders Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu had consulted with critical stakeholders in the Middle Belt and Nigeria on how to achieve this goal before we embarked on this. After much deliberation, we decided to go for someone in the South-east, and Obi surfaced as our ‘saviour’, and he will surely do that.”
In Anambra, Obi’s supporters marched from Alex Ekwueme Square, near the state House of Assembly in Awka, along Aroma to Eke-Awka road to the U-turn linking Kwata along Enugu-Awka Expressway and back to the Alex Ekwueme Square, where the supporters were addressed.

The rally, tagged, “two-million man march,” commenced at exactly 10 am.

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos, Emameh Gabriel in Abuja and Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

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