By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
Tensions in Enugu as a coalition of opposition political parties gather in solidarity with candidate of Igerian Democratic Congress following a series of violent disruptions targeting opposition political parties.
\n In a dramatic show of solidarity, key governorship candidates across major political parties\u2014including Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Uche Nnaji of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Ozor Obodoeze Ocho of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)\u2014convened a joint press conference to condemn the escalating state-sponsored violence, political intimidation, and systemic attacks on democratic freedoms.<\/p>\n
\u200bAddressing newsmen alongside National Assembly candidates, State Assembly members, and coalition party officials, the opposition leaders declared that Enugu\u2019s democracy is rapidly devolving into state-sanctioned anarchy.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201dThey Blocked Me Face-to-Face\u201d: Chinyeaka Ohaa Recounts Airport Ambushes<\/p>\n
\u200bDetailing his ordeal, the NDC gubernatorial candidate, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, revealed how his homecoming and scheduled campaign office flag-off were met with brute force by state security operatives and armed thugs.
\n\u200b\u201dWhen I alighted from the airport, I was attacked. My members were humiliated by the Chief Security Officer of Enugu State\u2026 He was seen by everybody. Many people were wounded, a lot of cars were smashed, and most of the phones of event journalists were taken.\u201d \u2014 Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, NDC Governorship Candidate
\n\u200bOhaa clarified that his party had strictly adhered to regulatory procedures by paying the required fees to receive supporters at the airport, adding that there was no plan to campaign on the tarmac.<\/p>\n
Despite this compliance, he described how armed men blocked his convoy across multiple routes before confronting him directly:
\n\u200b\u201dWhen I came there, they blocked me face to face. And I came out and said, \u2018Okay, you want to shoot me? Shoot me.\u2019 My car was able to rescue itself out of the blocking, and I entered my car and went to my office.<\/p>\n
This is unbecoming of Enugu State democracy.\u201d \u2014 Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa<\/p>\n
\u200bThe former Federal Permanent Secretary lamented that opposition parties are banned from raising billboards, wearing party vests, or holding peaceful gatherings.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the severe human toll of the attack, Ohaa noted:
\n\u200b\u201dIn our own case, they attacked my people and wounded eight persons, including a woman that they shot on the breast. Another one\u2019s stomach was ripped into pieces that they had to join his intestine\u2026 The young man that videoed everything live, they\u2019ve taken him to prison as we talk now.\u201d \u2014 Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa stated.<\/p>\n
\u200bOpposition Coalition Unites Against Political Highhandedness<\/p>\n
\u200bStanding side by side with Ohaa, PDP governorship candidate Chief Uche Nnaji condemned the brutal suppression of citizens exercising their democratic rights.
\n\u200b\u201dWe are assembled here to show solidarity to our brother in the NDC for what he went through\u2026 You don\u2019t play politics with bitterness. The more you harass people, the more people troop out. Politics is not about do-or-die.\u201d \u2014 Chief Uche Nnaji, PDP Governorship Candidate stated.<\/p>\n
\u200bNnaji, who personally visited hospitalized victims, expressed outrage over the usage of live ammunition against civilians:
\n\u200b\u201dThere are people that have bullet wounds stuck behind their back, right by the spinal cord\u2026 There is a woman that has three bullets in her breast. They move to kill, and their names are known. They are known gunmen, they are not unknown\u2026 We are calling on all agents of security in this country to come and help us in Enugu.\u201d \u2014 Chief Uche Nnaji.<\/p>\n
\u200bAddressing rumors of personal threats, Nnaji declared the coalition\u2019s unyielding stance:
\n\u200b\u201dThey say it\u2019s dangerous, they say they will kill us, but let me assure them that we are unkillable. Nobody can kill anybody; nobody can kill us. We are unkillable.\u201d \u2014 Chief Uche Nnaji.<\/p>\n
\u200bADC Decries Premeditated Violence; Demands Answers from Security Agencies:<\/p>\n
\u200bADC gubernatorial candidate Ozor Obodoeze Ocho countered claims made by state officials attempting to exonerate the administration from the airport saga. Ocho noted that ADC was the first party to experience violence when their thanksgiving canopy and venue were destroyed earlier in the campaign season.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201dWe are just here to commiserate with NDC on the unfortunate incident that happened to them. It could have been anybody\u2026 When you release projectiles, you don\u2019t even know who it is going to hit.\u201d \u2014 Ozor Obodoeze Ocho, ADC Governorship Candidate.<\/p>\n
\u200bExposing holes in official government statements, Ocho questioned the selective enforcement of rules at the Enugu airport:
\n\u200b\u201dThere is a divisional police office inside the airport, and FAAN, being a federal government agency, has been allowing a lot of people to come in and receive their loved ones\u2026 So, I\u2019m wondering why the day of the incident was different. The state government cannot deny ignorance.\u201d \u2014 Ozor Obodoeze Ocho.<\/p>\n
\u200bJoint Press Question & Answer Segment
\n\u200bWhen confronted by journalists regarding prohibitive campaign signage fees, restrictive access to event venues, and election day security, the coalition candidates responded jointly:<\/p>\n
\u200bOn the one hundred and fifty million Signage Fee & Venue Restrictions:<\/p>\n
\u200bOn the issue of signage Nnaji started, it\u2019s 150 million Naira. I don\u2019t know why 150 million Naira is so much money; it should be able to feed a nation\u2026 Moreover, all the billions they have received for the past three years, we do not even know what they use the monies to do.\u201d
\n\u200b\u201dEven if you query the 150 million, you still have to go to the advertising agency\u2014they have been mandated not to allow you.<\/p>\n
Even most of our programs, they don\u2019t even allow us to use people\u2019s facilities including hotels. All these things, they are just trying to strangulate us, but you can\u2019t strangulate the will of the people.\u201d Nnaji said.<\/p>\n
\u200bOn Election Safeguards and Voter Protection:
\n\u200bWhen you give your votes Ocho started, you wait. You wait for your result to be recorded from the polling unit before you go away. That is why we are calling on the security agents to help us with this issue of hoodlums and cultists\u2026 If we have legal federal security on ground\u2014not vigilantes, not forest guards\u2014election will be free and fair.\u201d Ocho concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Tensions in Enugu as a coalition of opposition political parties gather in solidarity with candidate of Igerian Democratic Congress following a series of violent disruptions targeting opposition political parties. In a dramatic show of solidarity, key governorship candidates across major political parties\u2014including Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18507"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18511,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18507\/revisions\/18511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}