March 23, (THEWILL) — Suspected political thugs, at the early hours of Monday, attacked a former Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Comrade Benjamin Nworie.
Nworie, who is the state correspondent of Thisday Newspaper, alleged that his attackers were loyalists of the chairman of the local government, Mrs Peace Agwu.
In a petition addressed to the state council of NUJ and copied to the Correspondents’ Chapel Chairman in the state, Nworie said the suspected political thugs, who were three in number, aggressively stormed his residence, knocked on his gate and started quarrelling with him before unleashing the attack on him.
“I was attacked early hours of today by three thugs of the chairman of Ishielu local government, Mrs Peace Agwu, at my residence in Ugwuechara, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.
“The thugs aggressively stormed my residence. Knocked at my gate and started quarrelling about why I shifted used bamboos out of my entrance gate.
“As I was trying to explain and calm the riotous situation, that I removed the bamboo because it was on the entrance to my house, which nearly caused me an accident about three days ago.
“The thugs forcefully dragged, beat and punched me severely on the face and mouth.
“They also threatened to kill my family and me. It took the intervention of the neighbourhoods to save me from further attacks.
“I have suffered many damages since the Council chairman started building her house.
“For several months, I have been parking my car in a nearby compound because of the way that building materials, including nails, plants and bamboo litter the roads.
“Most times, I am the one that usual park some of the debris to enable me to drive out of my house.
“I want to call on my colleagues and security agencies to be aware that my life and that of my family are now in danger as a result of the attacks and threats by the chairman’s thugs”, he alleged
In her reaction, the Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area, Mrs Peace Agwu, denied any role in the attack.
“It is a false allegation. I didn’t send anybody to attack him.
“I have told him to bring evidence of his claim. I don’t know what he is saying”, she stated.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
