*Police quiz PDP chieftain

By Tony Edike

ENUGU— SOME members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu East Senatorial zone, sustained injuries weekend when some youths suspected to be political thugs invaded the venue of a political meeting holding at the residence of a party chieftain, Chief Sam Ejiofor, and unleashed terror on the participants.

The police in Enugu have, however, quizzed Chief Ejiofor, who was one of the leaders of Ebeano faction of the PDP, in connection with the incident which occurred at his Agbani home Friday afternoon.

Ejiofor is leading a section of Ebeano political structure in support of PDP National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo.

It was gathered that the PDP meeting, which was attended by hundreds of people from Enugu East senatorial zone believed to be opposed to Governor Sullivan Chime and the Vita Abba-led faction, was in progress when the youths, who reportedly armed themselves with guns, machetes and clubs, stormed the arena and started pulling down the canopies.

While shooting sporadically into the air to scare the participants whom they ordered to vacate the place or risk losing their lives, an eyewitness said some of the party members sustained injuries as they ran helter-skelter for their lives.

“The hoodlums had concealed their arms as they entered into Ejiofor’s compound and took their seats pretending to be part of the meeting but soon after the deliberations commenced, they rose and pulled out their arms, including pistols, machetes and other dangerous weapons, with which they disrupted the meeting,” the eyewitness narrated.

Although nobody was shot in the mayhem, the meeting was disrupted as half of the participants left the venue after the shooting.  Chairman of Nkanu West Local Government Area, Mr. Ekene Okenwa, was said to have invited the policemen following reports that some party members were holding illegal congress at the politician’s residence.

The policemen later took convener of the meeting, Chief Ejiofor, to the Police Headquarters on the orders of the State Police Commissioner, Danazumi Doma, where he was asked to explain why he was holding an illegal congress of PDP in his house.

Ejiofor, who was Political Adviser to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani and who is now working with the PDP group loyal to the National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, was said to have denied the allegation that he was organizing the party’s congress in his house, explaining that the party members were only meeting to review recent political developments in the state.

Confirming the incident to Vanguard yesterday, Police Commisisoner Doma said: “The information we received was that the congress of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was being held at Chief Ejiofor’s house at Agbani in spite of the court order stopping the party’s congresses in the state. And based on  INEC’s timetable, I don’t think that this is the time to hold such a congress.  Again, he did not write the police, officially informing us about the meeting. That is why our men went there.”

According to the CP, “on getting the information, the DPO in Nkanu West personally went to the place with some men and in the presence of the policemen, there was a scuffle between the party members and some youths but our men were able to bring the situation under control and no arrest was made.

“I only directed that Chief Ejiofor should be invited and after discussing with him, I asked him to go,” he added.