VIO officials kill Ebonyi politician
Our reporter
A prominent politician in Ebonyi state, Chief Geoffrey Mgbada was on Tuesday killed by two officers of the Vehicle Inspection Office also known as VIO during a fracas over vehicle particulars along along Presco/Ezza Road axis of Abakaliki, the state capital.
The politician and his wife were said to be on their way to their farm early in the morning when the VIO officers stopped them and an argument ensued which led to one of the VIO officers pushing him.
Mgbada who was a former member of the Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board and Secretary of the Ebonyi Elders’ Council was said to have fallen with his head hitting concrete on the road, leading to his instant death.
The incident was confirmed by the Police Public Relations officer for Ebonyi State command, Loveth Odah who also said that the deceased remains have been deposited at the mortuary of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, adding that the two officers have been arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the force.
Reacting to the ugly development, Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, described his killing as wicked and barbaric and ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Uzor in the statement said: “The Governor on hearing about the death of Chief Mgbada expressed great sadness and ordered the Commissioner of Police to arrest and prosecute the suspects who paraded themselves as VIO Officers.
“Let it be known that the Governor in a town-hall meeting with Ebonyians proscribed all task-force agents working under any guise using the state government as cover.
“In the proscription order, the Governor also dissolved all revenue and tax agents in the state at all levels with a promise to convoke another town hall meeting where a new tax and other revenue will be deliberated and agreed upon and the Governor is yet to convene this meeting before this ugly incident.
“The Governor is saddened by this careless death and wishes to dissociate the state government from the illegal activities of the VIO and other task force agents in the state and directs for immediate arrest and prosecution of such illegal tax or revenue agents,” he concluded.
