From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
EBONYI State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, said residents of the state were living under siege because of the activities of the Ebubeagu security outfit.
Chairman of the party, Mr. Tochukwu Okorie, who stated this at a press conference shortly after a meeting in Abakaliki, decried the activities of the outfit, saying residents of the state were now suffocating in silence.
Okorie claimed that, in the last one year, more Ebonyians have died from state government-induced
causes than COVID-19 and its various mutations put to- gether in the state.
He alleged that the All Progressives Congress-led goverment of Ebonyi State has declared war on the indegines, using Ebubeagu in its quest to suppress the people in order to continue to mortgage their collective patrimony.
He condemned what he described as harrasment and intimidation of PDP members in the state, especially the recent declaration of the former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Linus Okorie, as a wanted person by the state government.
He further alleged that the APC-led goverment of Governor David Umahi was growing increasingly despotic and retrogressive and called on President Muhammadu Buhari, security agencies and the National Assembly to quickly intervene and save the state from the anti-democratic tendencies.
“For more than one year now, Ebonyi State, a hitherto free state where people loved one another, irrespective of creed or belief, has become a stifling society, a killing field only comparable to North Korea.
“The people of Ebonyi State have been under siege, a siege imposed by a government that all Ebonyians joined hands together to create. It is no longer news that the APC government of Gov. Umahi has declared war on the hapless people of the state, specifically targeting anyone seen or perceived to have a different opinion from that of the governor or his cronies.
“In the last one year, more Ebonyians have died from the state government induced causes than the COVID-19 and its various mutations put together in the statein effect, an Eb- onyian is more likely to die in the hand of the state government than any other cause.
“The Ebubeagu security network, an illegal private militia created by Governor Umahi, has become an albatross for the people of the state. Businesses in Abakaliki metropolis have closed down as the Ebubeagu boys constantly and consistently unleash terror on innocent traders and business people.”