Senator Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe
Abia 2023: Assault on Senator Abaribe sets Ngwa nation on war path, as kinsmen demand apology ‘within 24hrs’
[From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia]
Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, was reportedly attacked Tuesday in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State.
Abaribe was in Isiala Ngwa North in continuation of his consultations with the people over his gubernatorial ambition.
According to reports, he was addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the local government when the alleged attack took place.
Reports said that the Deputy Chairman of Isiala Ngwa North LGA challenged the Senator during the consultation forum.
Sketchy details have it that while the Senator was addressing the gathering, some youths invaded the venue, switched off the power and started scattering everything. It was alleged that the assailants also yanked off the microphone from the Senator.
Abaribe was one of the aspirants to announce his governorship ambition on the platform of the PDP earlier this year. He had bought his Nomination forms before the Abia PDP announced that it has zoned its governorship ticket to both Abia Central and Abia North Senatorial Zones, which effectively ruled out his aspiration.
However, the Mma Agha Ndigbo has refused to back down, referring to the party’s zoning as a huge joke.
This is also as his Ukwa la Ngwa kinsmen have unequivocally stated their preference for the emergence of the next governor of the state from the Umunneato axis: namely Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South and Osisioma local government areas) of Ngwa clan.
The attack on the Senator has attracted a swift but angry reaction from Hon. Michael Ibe Nwoke, Executive Chairman of Obingwa Local Government Area, where Abaribe hails from.
Ibe, in a statement made available to newsmen, did not only condemn the attack in its entirety, but demanded that the Deputy Chairman of Isiala Ngwa North, Hon. Chuks Amaike, should tender a public apology within 24 hours for attacking Abaribe, whom he (Ibe) described as “the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in the National Assembly, the pride of Igboland.”
“That the insult on Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, our leader, father and elder brother, will not be treated with kid gloves, and as such, that Hon. Chuks Amaike is given before or within the next 24 hours to tender an reserved public apology to the Senator or have the people of Obingwa to contend with,” Ibe warned, while calling on security agencies to urgently investigate the incident.
Ibe who is also the Chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Abia State chapter, also called on the State Working Committee of Abia PDP to wade into the matter and punish those found culpable in the said attack on Senator Abaribe.
