Old women, youths and men of Akaeze, Ivo local government area of Ebonyi State have destroyed properties worth millions of Naira including houses, filling station, vehicles belonging to prominent persons in their area over the death of one Nnaogo Anyim who was allegedly tortured by operatives of Ebubeagu operatives.
It would be recalled that Anyim was arrested by the men of Ebubeagu Security Network attached to Ivo local government over an alleged robbery but was tortured by the operatives. He was said to have died in the hospital following the torture.
The house of the Chairman of the local government, Chief Onyebuchi Ogbadu, filling stations and other properties were burnt in the melee.
Also, court and police post in the community were razed by the angry mob. It was alleged that about four persons were killed during the violent protest.
Reacting to the incident, Ogbadu said “in the first place, my house and property were the 5th in the series of what they burnt yesterday. They started with the commander of Ebubeagu’s house, went to the Deputy, went to another person. They said they are burning houses because of a person they said that died when he was arrested by Ebubeagu people, he is an armed robber and he died in the hospital.
“The Commissioner of Police as directed by the governor of the state is investigating. He has arrested Ebubeagu leadership, four of them and they are in detention. So, when why are they taking laws into their hands and burning people’s houses?”
Ogabdu dismissed the insinuation that he shot and killed two of the protesters.
“They were shooting guns when they were protesting that yesterday. How can I even go near them yesterday to kill them? I did shoot anybody, they did not even come close to me and I was not in my house when they came, I was in Eze’s palace when they came and burnt it,” he said.
• Traditional ruler narrates how suspected thief died
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Ebonyi South Traditional Rulers and the traditional ruler of Umuihe autonomous community, HRH Ibo Umazi Ubani, said “on Tuesday I went for the operation, I returned on Wednesday, I heard that somebody used a machete to chase somebody while returning from his farm with a motorcycle. He butchered him first in the hand, and the second one on the leg, the boy fell from the motorcycle.
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“A passersby going to the farm who saw the incident returned and reported to men of Ebubeagu what he saw on his way. Ebubeagu now went to their place and reported to their people what happened, I leant that their people were the ones that reported to Ebubeagu that the boy had returned, the boy in question is a bad boy. One, he is a thief, he use to steal people’s things and if he’s stealing your thing and you come for it, he would chase you. He used a machete to cut people the previous year.
“Ebubeagu went to carry him, and they said he pointed at one of them and said he’s the next person to be killed. They now started beating him and used an axe to cut him. I am a traditional ruler and I have nothing in my cupboard, what you are going to hear from me is nothing but the truth, I must say that they beat him the way they were not supposed to because using weapons to cut somebody on the investigation is not proper. Cutting his penis is not proper, the worst is after everything, they went and put it on the internet, and when it was posted on the net, some politicians rode on it and started this problem.
“When I heard it, I carried myself with the bandage on me, I went to see the deceased’s family with a cartoon of beer as our tradition demands that I should go with wine, I went to beg them that we should settle it amicably. Two of them are from the same family, the man that was macheted and the one that died, the family agreed, but told me that his elder brother said we should not discuss anything until he comes back.
“I invited the other family that their son was matcheted, they told me that they are from the same family, I called a meeting with my chiefs and the whole chiefs from that kindred came. We agreed on Thursday, I told them to go to the deceased family and apologize to them, which of course they told me that they went and on Friday I called another meeting. In the morning, they said the deceased brother had not returned, I told them to use town crier and inform everyone in the community to come to the playground for us to settle it out but they said they would go to the deceased family themselves to find out if his elder brother is back and they said he said he was coming in the evening, but he didn’t come, the same thing happened on Saturday, and I said we don’t have to wait for him again.
“On that Saturday, they used the town crier and gathered the villagers in a place we called Amiyi, in Azaeze ukwu, a different community from where this thing happened, nobody informed me of that town crier, which of course they were supposed to inform me. If they had informed me, they wouldn’t have gathered there because it’s not the proper thing because tradition demands that when such a thing happens, the elders and the traditional rulers and the leaders of that village would gather together and discuss it.
“I can say that the elder brother of the deceased was making arrangements with politicians on how to worsen this problem, and yesterday morning I heard they gathered at Amiyi, I saw a group of boys singing they wanted to enter my palace, but they passed. The first building they destroyed belongs to one Ebubeagu boy called Olinda, they destroyed his house and burnt everything, they went to Ifeanyi Ejem’s house, destroyed and burnt it. They destroyed his two buildings and burnt everything in them, they went to his father’s house and burnt the cars parked there.
“They went to Nwafuruzo’s house and damaged everything in his place, they went another person who is close to the chairman and also burnt his house, they went to the Chairman’s filling station and burnt it down. They also went to his house and burnt everything, in fact, I was helpless, I called the DPO and area commander, which of course I was reaching the chairman, who said he called the commissioner of police. I called our brothers whom we have blood relations with from Enugu, their two traditional rulers came with other people, because whatever happened here if they come, the fight will stop, no matter how bloody, they were the people that stopped it.
“The problem as I told you, had it been that Ebubeagu did not post that thing on the internet, their opposition political party couldn’t have used the opportunity to cause this. I am seeing it as one of the mistakes, and they were supposed to take that boy to the police station, the people that sponsored this thing did not do well, because this is politically motivated.”
and then