By PETER OKUTU, Abakaliki
IVO local government area unlike Afikpo, Izzi, Ikwo, Ezza North, Ezza South, Ishielu and Ohaozara council areas of Ebonyi State has in recent past been prone to  violence, especially during elections or whenever there was need to pick a candidate for an elective position.

This is particularly so because Ivo is the council area of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim who has since the return of civil rule in 1999 been in the vortex of the crises and unresolved differences among stakeholders because of the presumed existence of two political power blocks in the area.

Consequently, based on the  unfolding events involving political heavy weights in the state, it is now generally presumed that the SGF controls or influences a faction on one side, while the Commissioner for Poverty and Economic Empowerment, Chief James AroNweke and Ivo Council Chairman, Celestine Eze on another side.

This divide had always permeated into varying political interests which had often time necessitated violence and counter-violence as one group tries to assert itself over the other.

The attack on the traditional ruler in Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area of the state, Eze Moses Ngele by five suspected gunmen on Monday 14, May at his palace had reaffirmed the existence of this power blocks in the area, though none has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The five suspected gunmen on the fateful day disrupted activities at the palace of traditional ruler of Ishiagu, Eze Moses Ngele, the Agu III of Ishiagu kingdom, though nobody was reported to have sustained any injury as a result of the ugly incident.

Vanguard Metro, VM, learnt that when the gang of unidentified gunmen invaded the palace of the traditional ruler with AK 47 assault rifles, there was total confusion as several persons scampered for safety. Eye witnesses told VM that the gunmen forced their way into the palace, shooting sporadically. They added that it was not clear whether the hoodlums came to kidnap the traditional ruler whose coronation has been a subject of litigation.

*Eze Moses Ngele

Meanwhile, recounting his ordeal, the royal father said: “Five boys came to my compound at about 12 noon today. One of them pulled a gun at the people down stairs and succeeded in carting away the N10 million I brought to do projects for the people of my area. Then he threw the big parcel to one of his gang members who jumped down from the fence and ran away.

“Then one of them climbed another fence through the window and met me in my room and pointed a gun at me. He said that they were sent to kidnap me, and that a commissioner in Elechi’s government and a certain local government chairman sent them to kidnap me in my palace. Then the boy said I should give them N150 million in order  to spare my life.

“But as I stood there shivering in fear, the police arrived as those down stairs had alerted them to my predicament. So when the police came, they apprehended one of them who was still holding the gun. Then the one still in the room tried to jump the fence in order to  run away, but he was caught by the police as well.

“The boys confessed that their principal told them to kill me and that if I resist being kidnapped I should be killed immediately. When the police came, the three boys that were arrested started begging. They passionately pleaded with the police have mercy on them; that they were sent to come and kill me in my palace.

“That was what provoked and the whole of Ishiagu and the people were ready to kill the kidnappers. The people were asking why did they come to kill our King, what did the King do? They could not say anything”.

But in a quick reaction, the Chairman of Ivo LGA,  Celestine Eze, denied the allegation that he organised a group of men to kidnap the said king of Ishiagu kingdom, adding thus: “It is not true. Somebody will just wake up and start alleging something against me. Why should I do such a thing? I don’t have anything to do with such an incident”.

However, an earlier statement by the Divisional Police Officer of Ishiagu, Mr. Okey Bieke, revealed that the men who came to the traditional ruler’s palace were simply there to disrupt the meeting holding at the palace. According to him, three of the youths were arrested but none of them was seen with guns.

But in a counter report, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ebonyi State Police Command, ASP John Eluu, stated that the hoodlums who attacked the traditional ruler in Ishiagu were not kidnappers but a group of youths who because they were not happy with the proceedings in the community decided to invade the palace as a way of expressing their displeasure.

According to him, only a pistol was recovered from the youths as he denied knowledge of the use of AK 47 rifles by the hoodlums. Eluu also noted that the Command was yet to ascertain whether money was stolen from the traditional ruler during the invasion, adding that no confessional statements by the assailants had proven that they were sent by any stakeholder in Ishiagu community.

He called on leaders of thought to take the welfare of their people seriously, even as he charged the youths not to allow themselves to be used as objects of mayhem in the community.

A stakeholder in the area and former Chief Whip of Ebonyi State House of Assembly,  Uchenna Orji, called on security agents in the state to be vigilant in their areas of coverage so as to forestall similar episodes from occurring in Ishiagu and other parts of the state.