From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Barely few weeks after the attack on the residence of the spokesperson of the Coalition for United Peoples Party (CUPP), Ikenga Ugochinyere, by gunmen at Akokwa in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ideato North and South federal constituency yet again raised the alarm on another attack at same residence yesterday.
Ugochinyere, in an SOS message, stated: “We are under attack again. My house is under attack by armed men with explosives and heavy gunfire.” However, at the time of this report, it was not clear if any life was lost or property damaged.
But the Imo State PDP, in a swift reaction to the attack, blamed its opposition party for the attack, claiming that the invasion of his residence was aimed at eliminating him before the forthcoming election in February.
The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Collins Opuruzo, in a statement, yesterday, said: “The People’s Democratic Party alerts Nigerians that for the third time in less than two months, there was another bloody attack today, February 7, 2023, at the residence of our candidate for Ideato Federal Constituency, Barr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere.
“This latest attack, apart from its core objective to assassinate Ikenga Ugochinyere, was also contrived to intimidate his supporters and weaken the resolve of Ideato people who are fully determined to elect Ikenga Imo, Ugochinyere, as a member of the House of Representatives at the polls on February 25, 2023.
“What our party finds deeply disturbing is that President Mohammadu Buhari and the Federal Government have remained silent over these continuous bloody attacks on our candidate by ostensible agents of the Imo APC regime.
“We are aware that Ikenga Ugochinyere has written a series of petitions to various security agencies and also to the National Security Adviser, yet Aso Rock has not deemed it necessary to call the rampaging petty-dictator in Imo to order,” Opuruzo stated.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in the State, Henry Okoye, said he would “get back” to Daily Sun.