Former APC guber candidate alleges attack by thugs during Enugu LG election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Enugu state, Barrister Okey Egelonu, has alleged that he was recently attacked and brutally beaten in his home town of Itchi in Ibagwa South Local Government Area of Enugu State by some hoodlums, leaving his right arm paralysed while one of his eyes got blind.
Ezea who is said to be in a critical condition was narrating his ordeal from his sick bed, disclosed that the attacked occurred during the November 3rd council election in Enugu State.
According to him, on the election day, he had gone to the local government headquarter to monitor the distribution of election materials by the Enugu State Electoral Commission (ENSEC), officials when a convoy of about ten hilux vans approached him and a commissioner serving in the present government in the state names withheld, alighted from one of the vehicles, and told him that himself and the APC had long been their problem in the area, and allegedly ordered the thugs who were all dressed in black cloths and numbering more than Fifty with each carrying pump action riffles to deal with him.
He said he was taken into one of the hilux vehicles, dragged and beaten mercilessly by the thugs in the presence of a member of the House of Representatives in the area and security agencies such as the police and Department of State Services (DSS).
The former governorship candidate, expressed dismay that the state government was yet to condemn the incident and no one has been brought to book several weeks after it happened, he therefore appealed to the Inspector General of Police to urgently investigate the incidence and bring the culprits to book.
He said that inspite of assurances from the State Electoral Commission that election materials would be kept in the police station they were diverted, while the result of the election was rigged, he disagreed with insinuations that his people moved against him because of attempts to impose a chairmanship candidate, adding that he was only interested and fighting for free and fair election and the will of the people to prevail.
He said, “l had gone to the distribution centre on the election morning, when I got there, there was disagreement between the woman that was acting as ENSEC supervisor, our people said she had only five bags of this election materials for five pooling units in my ward when there were seven pooling units in my ward and she was saying she does not have the result sheet, we questioned her but she could not give credible answer and we expressed our fear to the DPO.
“I moved away and about a kilometer I saw some police and civil defense questioning one boy, it was then I saw a van of convoy of about ten Hilux vans coming with full headlamp and siren I thought it was soldier, but when I saw the gun they raised up, pump action riffles, they were all dressed on black it was then I realised they were not.”