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Ngige may
be killed, warns Ezeife
By Chris Agbambu
(Abuja)
and Okey Maduforo
(Awka)
Anambra State Governor Chris
Ngige could be assassinated should he succumb to pressures by power
wielders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he resigns, his
predecessor Chukwuemeka Ezeife raised the alarm on
Tuesday.
The governor is being asked to
quit, based on the confession of Chris Uba that himself and some others
fraudulently put Ngige in office last year, a case Inspector General of
Police (IG) Tafa Balogun said is now under
investigation.
Ezeife stated in Awka that the people of the
state could find a way to
kill Ngige if he vacates office.
�He should listen to the
people of Anambra State, the genuine people of Anambra State and take his
cue. We want him to stay on; and if he resigns, we will find a way to kill
him because more than 90 percent of the masses would see the move as a
defeat for them and not to Chris Ngige as a person�, he stressed.
Ezeife carpeted the federal
authorities for treating the troubles with kid gloves despite the level of
destruction.
As for resignation, he argued,
President Olusegun Obasanjo should be the one to resign first, insisting
that his approach to issues concerning Anambra State is �most
unfortunate�.
The police high command on
Tuesday announced that it is investigating Uba on his claim that he rigged
Ngige into office.
Balogun said at a press
conference in Abuja that �we are seriously looking into the matter, but
you know, it is an accumulation of the crisis in that
state�.
According to him, the police
know that election rigging is an offence �and at the appropriate time we
will take action�.
He acknowledged that the
November 10 violence led to a large-scale destruction of lives and
property and paralysed socio-economic activities in major cities in the
state.
However, he insisted that the
police reacted swiftly and in the process arrested 19 suspects, while 10
buses in which they operated were impounded. �Other exhibits recovered
from them include one axe, 21 live cartridges and eight expended
cartridges�.
Balogun said one Uche Nwozo, a
tout at Unizik Motor Park, Akwa was also arrested with N150,000 recovered
from him.
Police sources confirmed that
Nwozo has confessed that he was sponsored by a government official to set
the electoral tribunal building ablaze, an allegation Balogun said the
police are still investigating and whose findings will soon be
published.
According to him, security
measures so far taken to forestall a reoccurrence of the mayhem include
deployment to the state of eight additional mobile police units,
comprising 800 men, reinforcement of police presence in key and vulnerable
points and intensification of
surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Ngige�s official security
apparatus has also been restored.
Balogun, who noted that though
Anambra looks �patently peaceful�, said it is still plagued by political
debacle.
On the anti-graft crusade in
the police, he disclosed that anti-corruption and monitoring teams
recently arrested 105 policemen for such offices and have all been
dismissed.
No fewer than 50 persons,
comprising vehicle inspection officers (VIOs), members of the Federal Road Safety
Corps (FRSC) as well as civilian accomplices were arrested for corruption
offences and more than 1,200 police officers have been dismissed for
various acts of corruption in the last three years.
Balogun pledged that the
self-cleansing exercise will be sustained in 2005 and appealed to other
government and private organisations and the entire society to emulate the
police by joining the anti-corruption crusade.
Meanwhile, some of the
hooligans involved in the November violence in Anambra State are said to
be preparing for an attack on their leaders following allegations that
funds meant for them were embezzled.
Most of them were wounded but
are yet to receive medical attention as some hospitals demanded police
report before attending to them.
Other groups loyal to Uba are
allegely planning to take on Ngige once the PDP National Working Committee
(NWC) decides the matter on January 4.
But in an attempt to prevent
Ngige�s resignation, Awka traditional ruler Eze Uzu Gibson Nwosu confirmed
on Tuesday that a meeting of the royal fathers in Anambra Central
Senatorial zone has been called to devise a common front against
it.
Said he: �Something is
happening that is disturbing and also embarrassing to the traditional
institution. If the people say he should resign it would be justifiable
for him to say he would resign or not.
�If Ngige resigns it would be
an insult on the pride of Anambra people, that would amount to dancing to
the tune of the enemies of democracy�.
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