Elechi, Ikonne’s campaign DG, survives deadly attack
*He wanted to butcher me to death – Elechi
*Ikpeazu demands thorough investigation
Director-General of Uche NdiAbia Campaign Organisation, Rt. Hon. Barrister Chinedum Elechi, has survived a deadly attack against him by a man said to be an operative of the Department of State Security Services (DSS).
The attack took place along Azikiwe Road in Umuhia on Sunday, December 13, 2022.
The assailant whose name was not made public but was said to be an operative of the Ebonyi State Command of DSS attacked Elechi with a sharp machete, leaving the former Deputy Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly with multiple machete cuts all over his body.
It was gathered that a minor accident involving Elechi and his assailant snowballed into the grievous attack on the Uche NdiAbia Campaign DG.
It was equally learnt that timely intervention by Police operatives and members of the public who witnessed the incident and helped to overpower the assailant, saved Elechi from being butchered to death.
Those who intervened, sources added, recovered the instrument of attack used by the assailant.
Narrating his ordeal, the victim, Elechi, while displacing the gaping cuts all over his body, said: “This is how a DSS operative wanted to matchete me to death yesterday at Azikiwe Road, Umuahia in broad daylight. His excuse is that I scratched his car – which is not true.
“He chased after me, blocked the car I was driving, came out of his car, used the matchete to break the glasses of my car and commenced to butcher me in this way. But for bystanders who intervened, I would have been a dead man, for what I don’t know.
“I will need surgery for my left arm because the matchete cut through my artery and has immobilised the fingers of my left hand. It is only by the grace of God I am alive. He meant to kill me in cold blood. You guys pray for me to get through this!”
Meanwhile, the state Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has demanded for a thorough investigation into the incident, describing the attack as “inexplicable display of murderous barbarism.”
Ikpeazu specifically charged the Commissioner of Police in the state to ensure that the assailant is made to face the full weight of the law.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka, in a statement on the attack, said the Governor commended those who intervened to save Elechi for their display of patriotic courage, adding that: “The Governor assures well-meaning Abians of their safety, reiterating the commitment of his administration to ensure that criminals are not given space to operate in Abia State, especially as the political space gets set for serious activities.
“Governor Ikpeazu is grateful to God for sparing the life of Rt. Hon Elechi, a former Deputy Speaker of State House of Assembly, former Honorable Commissioner, and wishes him safe recovery,” Ememanka stated.
