Date Published: 03/04/10

How Senator Ucha benefits from Ezillo crisis, by Ebonyi government

Martin Elechi

Smarting from the recent orgy of violence that claimed hundreds of lives and damage to property worth millions of naira in Ezillo, the Ebonyi State government has accused the chairman, Senate committee on works, Julius Ucha, of sowing the seeds of war between Ezillo and Ezza communities in 2008, when he acted briefly as governor of the state.

Speaking exclusively to Pointblanknews.com the state government upbraided Ucha for “shedding crocodile tears”  over the recent orgy of violence when he had, in fact, “sufficiently programmed the crisis to be a bargaining chip" in the 2011 elections. The state government however said it has seen through the senator’s devices, and that the relevant security agencies were hot on the his trail.

“Hostilities between Ezillo and Ezza communities reportedly reached a flashpoint on May 10, 2008, when a disagreement between some commercial motorcycle operators and a telephone booth operator turned bloody, leading to the killing of scores of persons and destruction to property worth millions of naira. Incidentally Ucha, then Speaker of the State House of Assembly, was holding brief for the state governor, Dr. Sam Egwu, who was on vacation,” Abia Onyike, media assistant to Governor Martin Elechi, said.

Demanded Onyike: “How come it was during the brief period that Ucha was asked by the then Governor Sam Egwu to hold forte as governor did the Ezza-Ezillo people, communities that have co-habited harmoniously for several centuries, suddenly turn guns on themselves?  It is for Senator Ucha to answer if a relationship exists between his advice to the Ezza people to seek autonomy from the Ezillo at all cost, and the his lopsided purge in the state Civil service and the crisis and the crisis.”

Continued the media aide: “You may recall that, only a few weeks ago, we made a passionate appeal to the Acting President on the activities of certain persons who wish to play politics with the lives and property of the good people of the state. But for the fact that we were tipped off and swung into action, the scale of destruction would have been far beyond what we experienced.

“Apparently, Senator Ucha and some of these so-called Abuja politicians imagined that by setting the state on fire, they would have achieved their satanic agenda. But for the vigilance of eagle-eyed security personnel, they would have destroyed the state-of-the art Ezillo Water scheme, as well as the Ezillo bridge, so as to turn back the hands of the clock of development; so that our people can go back to drinking contaminated water,” the aide told Pointblanknews.com.

According to him, the governor has visited the affected communities, and has ordered that relief materials to moved in to assist the internally displaced persons. Governor Elechi, said Onyike, “remained focused and would not allow mischief makers under the guise of communal crisis rob the good people of Ebonyi state of the tremendous gains they are making under his administration.”

 He disclosed that the state government was working with the relevant security agencies to determine the figures responsible for the importation of mercenaries, and where they sourced the sophisticated arms and ammunition they used to unleash mayhem.

“The primary responsible of any government is to protect its people. Security of life and property is top on the agenda of the Martin Elechi administration. There shall be no hiding place for persons who manipulate others into violent acts from the comfort and safe distance of their homes. We shall leave no stone unturned in our quest to bring the patrons of these acts of terrorism to book,” he vowed.