| Soludo kidnap drama
•The factors at war
By IKENNA EMEWU(ikenna@sunnewsonline.com), Lagos and GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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Prof. Soludo
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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On Tuesday, the old and ugly chapter in Anambra Peoples Democratic Pary (PDP), which involves politics of kidnap, was reopened. That day, Pa Simeon Soludo, father of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof Chukwuma Soludo, was kidnapped. The abductition of the septuagenarian reminded political watchers of July 10, 2003, when thugs, allegedly from the opposition camp of the same PDP, kidnapped the then governor, Dr. Chris Ngige. Incidentally, a major actor in the Ngige abduction saga, Chief Chris Uba, who was locked in a battle to control the state with the governor those days, is also at the centre of the current drama in Anambra.
Pa Simeon Soludo, was snatched from his home in Isuofia, in Aguata Local Government by unknown gunmen, who came in a Mercedez Banz 190. The family revealed that Pa Soludo was about taking his dinner when the kidnappers stormed his home. The kidnap itself did not come without a drama.
It was gathered that because the car was to small to take the team of kidnappers and their victim one of the gunmen had to get into the boot before they sped away.
Pa Soludo seem to be taking the heat of his son’s prominence, as there was a previous incident of his involvement in the hands of hoodlums who wanted to settle scores with his son, Chukwuma, in his days as the CBN governor. In that saga, he was reported to have lost one eye.
Culture of kidnap
When the seed of arm-twisting politics was sown in Anambra, in 2003, in the Ngige abduction saga, the PDP leadership looked the other direction because there were indications that President Olusegun Obasanjo then took sides with Ngige’s enemies and therefore, endorsed whatever overt means they adopted. It was said that the incident soured the relationship between Chief Audu Ogbeh, PDP national chairman at the time and Obasanjo.
On the other hand, in the current political battle in Anambra, Aso Rock would be said to be neutral, although President Umar Musa Yar’Adua was briefed before Soludo was presented as PDP candidate for next year’s governorship election in the state. However, fingers are still being pointed at PDP for shunning due process in picking its governorship candidate for next year’s election.
According to the South East wing of the Nigeria Renewal Group, “the national leadership of the PDP should be held responsible for acts of terrorism, like this one because it had, in the past, rewarded and favoured its members who brazenly indulge in all manner of criminal acts against fellow party members.”
Case of the witch crying in the night and the baby
dying in the morning
Pa Soludo’s kidnap happened the same day Chris Uba and 21 men, whose governorship aspiration he allegedly sponsored, held a rally in Awka against Soludo’s candidacy. The group had defied the order of the national leadership that its members withdraw suits against Soludo and cease from doing anything against his candidacy. Sources say that the coincide of the kidnap and the rally looked suspicious. According to them, it was like the witch crying in the day and the child dying in the morning.
A source said: “On that same day, Soludo’s father was abducted. Not even the threat by the PDP national executive to deal with people opposed to Soludo’s choice could not stop Uba and his group. They held the rally, according to their plan and in the process, on the same day, the father of the person they were kicking against got lost. Who would you suspect did that? Moreover, when you hear talks that it was the family which is demanding ransom of N500 million to settle political expenses, who would you say is involved?”
One of the aspirants who spoke to Saturday Sun on phone also noted: “There are no strong evidences to link Uba and his 21 men to the kidnap, but in any police investigation, you start from the known to get to the unknown. There are consequential links between them and the incident. It is possible none of the people suspected is responsible, but the police would get to the roots of the matter starting from the known links. After all, there are past evidences of known people in the PDP in the state involved in matters of kidnap for politics; the guess would not take time to narrow down to them.
“The matter becomes more worrisome when demands for money is being made. There is none of the kidnappers that would not readily say Soludo has that amount to pay for his father, and when he does not pay, it becomes a problem no one would have a ready answer to right now. Is it possible they want to break him and force him to step down from the contest or they want to economically wreck him, so that he would be down and flat, not having the money to prosecute his campaign. No one would say for certain what this game is up to”, another who only wants to be identified as Isaac noted.
The desperation
Many agree that the tension in Anambra over who becomes the PDP guber candidate is one created and given life by PDP. A lawyer said: “When the party threw open its doors and accepted as much as 50 aspirants, who paid at least N5.2 million each for party ticket, it knew it was courting trouble. There is hardly a person who can throw in such amount and at last you cut him from the back to pick a candidate who will quietly go home to lick his wound. They are desperately fighting for the reason that they invested much money in the project; they know they belong to a party where order is lacking. And above all, there is the notion, which is about 90 percent true that whoever picks the ticket is automatically the next governor. They have known our electoral system, if any, for too long, and they believe that PDP is going to perform the old wonder and make sure it wins at all costs. Therefore, what they are fighting over is not actually the candidacy, but already a sure anticipation of the guber seat next year.”
The seed of discord
About a month before the failed attempts to choose a candidate for the PDP, some party chiefs organized a reception for Prof. Soludo in Abuja. The persons that signed the notice published in many newspapers included Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Vice President; Chief Tony Anenih, a BOT member of the party and another from the north.
Anenih did not chew words in the gathering to announce that Soludo looked like the right candidate they had been looking for. When, therefore, the PDP nominated Soludo as its candidate, without the primaries, many members of the party, especially the other aspirants cried sabotage. However, the sham that was the selection of PDP candidate showed its ugly face at the ward congress. The outcome, which PDP admitted was a 10 percent success, had signs of gloom around the corner.
There were tales of manipulation at that micro level. When the list of delegates for the state congress, where the party’s congress would have been chosen was compiled, based on the outcome of the ward congresses, issues were also raised. Some of the aspirants had accused the Chris Ubah camp of smuggling in 600 names, which were substituted for real delegates. The gladiators had squared up until one of the 47 aspirants procured a court order to stop the exercise. Even the presence of a governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives – all party bigwigs – could not bring sanity in the exercise. The option of electing a candidate through the statutory delegates in Abuja failed until the NWC threw its weight, as last resort, to pick Soludo. Yet, the war only changed face and not averted.
Saoludo’s gain my not have come by chance. It appeared to have been programmed. Last year, a prime national executive member of the PDP in the South East zone had told Saturday Sun that the party has a scheme to field, in the 2010 guber race, a candidate whose personality and credibility would not be questioned. He was specific to mention Soludo and Prof. Dora Akunyili as likely persons. Mid this year, sources also revealed that the choice had been narrowed down to Soludo.
A source said: “It was consummation of the plans that made Mr. President accept to drop him from going for a second term in the CBN job. So, what is happening in Anambra is a plan long cooked and given birth to by the PDP leadership. They declared they want Anambra by all means. And what goes on today is the declared all-means.
“If I were Chris Uba, I would calm down and watch the direction the party is going. If he were a smart politician, he would have known that the tune of the music has changed. He and his brother had their day when Obasanjo was in power. The person there today is a different person and has people he accepts their style. Uba should have known that the helmsman’s style does not favour his approach. So if his party has decided to chose a particular candidate, it doesn’t matter how much he spent, his intentions would not carry the day at last”.
“I am a party member in PDP, I really sympathise with the party because if the matter gets too bad, it will lose. We cannot keep taking Nigerians for granted; it is possible the people can vote and adopt a different attitude to defend their votes, unlike before. Meanwhile, if PDP knows how to manage its affairs, it should instead placate the aspirants because they also spent their resources. They should not be bullied to drop the fight. It needs diplomacy to settle and that would be a more effective approach.”
However, PDP, in its usual style, seems to have mismanaged or overestimated its accuracy in the game. And it was too bad that the monsters the party had reared in the past in Anambra bared their fangs this much.
The Police stand
The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Leha, following the high profile of the incident and the interest in the matter, addressed the press, where he insinuated that the kidnap might not have been unconnected with those against Soludo’s candidature.
Leha had said: “Once again, it is my pleasure to address you on the prevailing security situation in Anambra State. The past two months, Anambra State has witnessed peace and tranquility devoid of violent bank robbery and high society kidnaps.
“An era that has witnessed mass arrest of previous armed robbers/kidnappers and recovery of their weapons of mass destruction until just yesterday (Tuesday) when a five-man armed gang of kidnappers, operating in Mercedes Benz 190 saloon car, black in colour, kidnapped Chief Simeon Soludo, a 78-year-old father of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and one of the frontline gubernatorial aspirant in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State.
“It is instructive to note, based on intelligence reports, crime statistics and survey carried out by the State police Command that they are primarily two kinds of insecurity in the state: Insecurity caused by criminals who deliberately target well-meaning individuals in the society, which could be anyone as long as they think he is wealthy enough to part with some hefty sum. This has been tactically scaled down by the strategies put in place by the command and for the past two months, we have had it smooth and easy here.
“The second and the most dangerous phase is insecurity sponsored by politicians. Just yesterday (Tuesday), some group of politicians held a meeting at Emmaus House, Awka where scathing remarks were made on the person of Professor Charles Soludo. Just after the meeting, Chief Simeon Soludo was kidnapped and it is left for people to speculate who did it, and for what reasons.
“The Anambra State Police Command wishes to reiterate its earlier warning and very strongly too, that it cannot fold hands while politicians make nonsense of all the gains made. The Command will not, and cannot be intimidated, henceforth; the Command will deal very decisively with any politicians found to be fermenting trouble either by his action or words.
“The Command also wishes to remind the politicians that the only road to Government House is through the ballot box and not by kidnapping people. Their popularity and acceptance can only be got by propagating and articulating ideas and selling same to the electorates with a view to winning their votes and not by buying the votes.
“This brief statement should serve as a warning to all politicians to follow due process and play to the rules. Once again, the command will not hesitate to deal very ruthlessly with anybody caught causing trouble irrespective of his societal status.”
When asked what police were doing, having fingered those who held the rally, he said that the command had already invited the leader of the party in the state, Chief Chris Uba, for questioning.
The Uba factor
However, the CP’s statement did not go down well with Chris Uba, who saw it as blackmail and an attempt to cow him from continuing his fight against Soludo’s candidature. He had, in response, said that he was never invited by the police and wondered why the CP should say so.
He said: “I am the leader of the party in the state and I have been funding the party since 1999. Soludo is a visitor in the state; he is a visitor in the party; but when he came we started the primaries, and in the delegate election he got only five, and when he got this few votes, Soludo himself went and brought a court order and told me that he brought that court order. Then he later came to my house to beg me for us to discuss. I told him to go first and vacate that court order; he told me the court order cannot be vacated.
“He also told me that he had about three court orders in his pocket given by the same judge, Justice Nwankwo. Then we went to Abuja to do the congress election. Soludo refused that delegates would vote. After that, the NWC rose and said that they were coming back; they went and slotted his name from behind. I will show you his number; he has been calling me, begging me to soft pedal and I said I will not soft pedal; he must vacate because he came in through the backyard and he must leave through the backyard.
“Soludo is not a member of our party. Soludo has not attended meeting anywhere. He went to the Commissioner of Police and told the CP that he should stop us from the rally, but police told us to change the rally to stakeholders meeting. I spoke to the commissioner myself and police were at that rally and I went to the rally and came back, the thing he said was that they kidnapped his father.
“Soludo is a blackmailer and he cannot blackmail me to stop. I will continue to fight the cause I believe in. I will continue to fight his candidature till I get him out of office. He can’t try this in this party; he has spoilt all the banks in Nigeria and he want to come and spoil the party; it can’t happen.
“So he knows the location of his father; let him go and bring back his father. You know Soludo is not at peace with his people; he is fighting with his people; he created an autonomous community.
“My own is the party. I am the leader of the party. I am a BOT member in this party. I am fighting illegality because our president believes in rule of law and we must follow due process.
“Police Commissioner never invited me for one day and it is unfair for him to say so. But tell him I am in my house in Abuja, if he wants to see me, if he invites me I will answer. No blackmail can’t stop me. I must fight on.
“No amount of sympathy will stop me. Soludo knows where his father is; he should get him out. He came in illegally and we will throw him out illegally.
“I am consulting with all my lawyers for a legal action against Soludo and his cronies. However, police in Nigeria know where to see me, if they want me I am available at anytime to answer them.
“I have never been to any police station. EFFC have never invited me and I am not owing any bank anywhere in the world. I want Nigerians to judge me and Soludo who has skeleton in his cupboard.
“I am fighting just cause and I have followers and my followers will not support illegality as exemplified in Soludo’s candidature.”
Insinuations
While those in Soludo’s camp are accusing the opposition of masterminding the kidnap to jolt their principal, make him afraid and possibly abandon the party’s mandate, the aggrieved people who are accused are saying it is diversionary. According to Mr. Chike Anyaonu, a member of the tink-tank of Soludo’s camp, the opposition boasted at their rally that they would chase Soludo out of the state and his father was kidnapped thereafter.
He said “It is desperation on their part; we have seen such things in the past in Anambra State; it is not the first, not the second and not the third. Sometime in 2003, a sitting governor was abducted by the same godfather. He is supposed to be in prison by now because that is treason, but he is walking freely.
“The same group caused mayhem and burnt government property. It is in their character, it is how they work, and that is why we say they are responsible.
“Also at the rally, they held that day, one after the other, they said all manner of things against Soludo and boasted to the crowd that within seven says, something would happen, and that is why the police, who were present are now looking on their way. They did this to cow him, and scuttle his decision to help liberate Anambra State.”
But countering that, one of the aspirants, Dr. Alex Obiogbolu said: “I have always condemned kidnapping and I have always insisted that those involved should be brought to book. Anyone who is found wanting is a criminal and not a politician. The idea of saying that the N500 million ransom was to offset election expenses is not only mischievous but diversional. I sympathize with our great party’s candidate, Prof. Charles Soludo over the kidnap of his father, but people should not give it a political coloration”.
Other factors
Former governor of the state, Dr. Chris Ngige, saw the development as ugly and urged politicians to be civil. His campaign organization had, in a statement, also described the kidnap as political and said: “Our Principal and this campaign organization view this dastardly, anti-social and reckless behaviour in bad taste and calls for the unconditional release of this peaceful old man who has done nothing to merit this crude treatment.
“While sympathizing with Professor Soludo and his family, we call on all politicians from all the opposing political parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have intra party issues, to settle with Professor Soludo, to do so in a civilized and dignified manner.
“Politics is a noble game and should be played as such. Kidnapping of somebody or a member of his or her family can never be the solution to any political problem. At the same time, we continue to repeat what our Principal, His Excellency, Dr. Chris N. Ngige, OON, has continued to say to the Peter Obi administration that security of life and property is the first cardinal responsibility of any government to her citizenry.
“He had, at the last Anambra State Association USA convention at the National Harbor, Washington, DC, over the weekend re-emphasized that the failure of the Obi administration in this respect connotes total failure of government business. One would expect this outgoing, never-do-well government, to protect the lives of the citizenry, until March 17, 2010, when it will park its bag and baggage out of the Government House as a failed Government.
“For theirs is a story of an administration that came in 17th March 2006, inheriting a healthy government and state, but transformed it into a failed government and a failed state.”
A group, under the aegis of Nigeria Renewal Group (NRG) South East Zone, blamed the leadership of the PDP for the kidnap of the party’s standard bearer’s dad.
In a statement by the zonal chairman, Dr. Ejiamatu Chikwado, the group stated that the kidnap of Pa. Soludo was politically motivated, adding that the PDP leadership should be held responsible.
It said: “The national leadership of the PDP since the Colonel Ahmadu Ali days should be held responsible for acts of terrorism, like this one, because it has always rewarded its favoured members who brazenly indulge in all manner of criminal acts even against fellow party members.
“The kidnapping of the PDP candidate’s father apparently by his own party men is what would always happen in a country where crime is rewarded, instead of being punished. Nigeria is not yet a country governed by the rule of law, but by the rule of men. When Dr Chris Ngige was the sitting governor, he was abducted on July 10 2003 by his estranged PDP backers over the sharing of the state’s resources, the PDP rather than arrest and prosecute all those involved in the dastardly act concluded that it was a mere family affair.
“The abductors were thus encouraged to do more dastardly things like the burning of such state institutions as the House of Assembly, the legislators’ quarters, Government House, the state judicial headquarters, broadcasting stations and others in November, 2004, for a whole two days in broad daylight.
“In fact, far from the police arresting the thugs engaged in the carnage and arson against public structures; they were the very people guiding and shielding the destroyers, as even the Nigerian Television Authority showed the world on its network news service. This fact left most people with the impression that the PDP government of General Olusegun Obasanjo was working in cahoots with the masterminds of the mayhem.”
It’s battle for the sould of Anambra
In the midst of accusations and counter accusation, Pa Soludo has not been seen. He appears to be the pawn in the chessboard of Anambra politics. Observers say that it is possible that his abduction is meant to force his son to withdraw from the race for Anambra governorship seat. Others say his son’s camp may have also stage-manged the incident to whip up sentiment. However, what is obvious is that the Uba camp want Soludo out and has actually vowed to do eveything to ensure this. Uba said that himself. However, the curious thing about the kidnap is that the police said the Soludo family had not reported it to them.
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