{"id":99354,"date":"2022-09-17T22:16:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T21:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=99354"},"modified":"2022-09-17T22:16:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T21:16:45","slug":"why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/","title":{"rendered":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi &#8211; Umahi"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1744251895747747276\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div class=\"mail-message-header spacer\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, has explained why a rally by the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in the State capital on Saturday was disrupted by the police.<\/p>\n<p>Umahi, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), however, dissociated himself from the disruption.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Umahi, who said he is a democrat and believes firmly in the rule of law, explained that the relevant government agencies had approved the use of Abakaliki township stadium for a rally by the Labour Party subject to the payment of some specified fees.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than pay the fees, the governor said the organizers of the rally chose to empty into the streets causing some untold hardships on the hapless citizens going about their daily pursuits.<\/p>\n<p>Umahi said the police, whose responsibility it is to maintain law and order, stepped in at that point to do the needful, hence the disruption.<\/p>\n<p>But he insisted it had nothing to do with him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it is true that the police dispersed people, the answer will surely rest with the police,\u201d the governor said.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nThe Police in Ebonyi on Saturday teargassed and violently dispersed residents who gathered in Abakaliki, the State capital to stage a one-million-man match in support of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.<\/p>\n<p>The supporters, however, quickly regrouped in another part of the city and continued with their march.<\/p>\n<p>The Obidient movement, as the supporters are popularly called, had gathered at the Pastoral Centre, Abakaliki for the march when police stormed the area and dispersed them with teargas.<\/p>\n<p>The incident caused human and vehicular traffic on the popular Old Enugu road in the capital city on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<p>One of the marchers, Steve Ugama, alleged that aside dispersing and tear-gassing the supporters, about five of his colleagues were arrested by the police.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThis is inhuman and undemocratic. We have gathered here this morning for our peaceful march, all of a sudden, the police came and started tear-gassing us and arresting our people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey said we can\u2019t hold the march, because Governor David Umahi asked them to stop us, that we can\u2019t hold it. About four of our colleagues have been arrested. We need help here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When contacted, Mr. Chooks Oko, Special Assistant to Governor Umahi on Media and Strategy, said he was preparing a press statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGive me some time. I will issue a press release on the matter and I will send it to you,\u201d he told TheNiche.<\/p>\n<p>In a text message he sent to TheNiche, Mr. Oko said, \u201cThe Executive Governor of Ebonyi state is certainly not aware of any disruption of any gathering as he didn\u2019t order any. He is a democrat who believes firmly in the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wishes every contending politician the very best and will insist on a level playing ground for all. If it is true that the police dispersed people, the answer will surely rest with the police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He later issued a formal press statement where he explained what happened and what the governor knew about it.<\/p>\n<p>Titled, \u201cThe Governor ordered no disruption,\u201d the statement read: \u201cThe attention of the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State has been drawn to some online publications and rumours making the rounds that he ordered the disruption of a gathering in support of one of the presidential candidates in the 2023 elections. This is not true<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Executive Governor of Ebonyi state is certainly not aware of any disruption of any gathering as he didn\u2019t order any. He is a democrat who believes firmly in the rule of law. He wishes every contending politician the very best and will insist on a level playing ground for all. If it is true that the police dispersed people, the answer will surely rest with the police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor record purposes, the relevant government agencies had approved the use of Abakaliki township stadium for a rally by the Labour Party subject to the payment of some specified fees. Rather than pay the fees, it was gathered, the organizers chose to empty into the streets causing some untold hardships on the hapless citizens going about their daily pursuits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe police, we are told, had to step in to restore law and order.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Governor appeals to all citizens to always abide by the dictates of the law and decent living so that law and order will always reign supreme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wishes all political parties and their candidates well and enjoins all to play the game by the rules.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-footer spacer collapsible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, has explained why a rally by the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in the&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, has explained why a rally by the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"608\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"347\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi &#8211; Umahi\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\",\"name\":\"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg\",\"width\":608,\"height\":347},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi &#8211; Umahi\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News","og_description":"The governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, has explained why a rally by the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in the&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":608,"height":347,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi &#8211; Umahi","datePublished":"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/"},"wordCount":772,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/","name":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi - Umahi - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-17T21:16:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pETER-oBI-uMAHI.jpg","width":608,"height":347},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-police-disrupted-obi-supporters-rally-in-ebonyi-umahi\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why police disrupted Obi supporters rally in Ebonyi &#8211; Umahi"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}