Naijawapenews.blogspot.com

Apr 24, 2018

The lawmaker representing Ogbadibo, Okpokwu and Ado Federal Constituencies in

the House of Assembly, Hassan Saleh, has described the death of six persons at an

All Progressives Congress (APC) meeting in Benue State as barbaric, criminal and

undemocratic.

A statement by Saleh at the weekend blamed the violence on an aspirant for the

state chairmanship, who he said was being imposed by some forces outside the

zone.

The statement reads: “We came to Otukpo for the meeting to discuss issues

concerning the upcoming APC congresses from ward to the National level, as well

as the resolution of the NEC.

“I came with the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh; former Senate President

Ameh Ebute; Chief Mike Onoja and some other stakeholders.

“When we arrived, the meeting was on and the hall was filled with thugs. Those

invited to the meeting were not allowed to express themselves freely because of

heckling from the thugs.

“The Zonal Chairman yielded the floor to Ogbeh and Senator Ebuteh, and in their

speeches, they cautioned the party against imposing candidates, but to ensure that

congresses were held at various stages and whoever wanted to contest for any

position should be allowed to do so.

“The two elders were shouted down; the meeting ended in chaos and we left the

venue. But to our shock, we heard news that the about 150 thugs engaged each

other in a free-for -all fight over money. There were reports of the use of dangerous

weapons, while gun shots were fired freely.”

According to Hon. Saleh, those behind the violence are becoming desperate in their

desire to maintain a stronghold on the party machinery. But he said the plot will

not work as the people were tired of aspirants being sponsored by some forces.

He urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Department of State Services

(DSS) and other security agencies to investigate the violence and prosecute the

perpetrators.

Naijawapenews