Clement Nnachi ( Abakaliki)
No fewer than 100 protesters comprising women, youths, aged, and the elderly from Amangwu village in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration alleging illegal detention of 17 youths of the community at the State Police Command Headquarters Abakaliki.
The protesters who thronged the gate of the Police Headquarters by 10am in the morning accused the State Chairman of Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) Chief Hyacinth Ikpor, who hails from a nearby village Amangbala, of being behind the unwarranted arrest of the youths.
They demanded the unconditional release of the detainees stating that they were held by the police without unjustifiable reasons.
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They carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Let there be Justice in our community, UBEB Chairman release our sons, can’t you make peace in your community”, among others.A spokesperson of the protesters Mrs Chika Dike, informed newsmen that the arrested youths are currently being detained at the police command over trump-up allegations and urged the police authorities to release their children without delay.She opined,”they are being persecuted for political reasons and nothing incriminating has been being established against the detainees”
“we no longer sleep with our two eyes closed due to intimidation and harassment on us, police authorities should release our sons”
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In a similar vein, another group of youths from the area have equally staged a counter protest to deny the allegations leveled against Chief Ikpor by the protesters.They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Every community has a leader, Chief Ikpor is our leader, elections are over, those who committed crimes must face the law, Chief Ikpor must remain to represent us in UBEB”; among others.The leader of the Group who doubles as the President of Amangbala village in Afikpo North Local Government Area Mr Austin Ekuma, said they decided to embark on the protest to condemn the action of some persons in Amangwu village who were alleged to have breached the peace of the town.“These hoodlums are causing problem in our community, they are destroying people’s houses and other valuable property, we are urging them to desist from such, that is why we are protesting”, he said.He said the Group denounced the erroneous mention of the name of Chief Ikpor in the entire scenario stressing that he had no hand in the arrest and detention of anybody from the village.“those in police custody were arrested as a result of their alleged criminal activities and willful damage of people’s property in the village”
Reacting to the development , Chief Ikpor denied any role in the arrest and detentions of anybody from Amangwu village stating “those arrested were as a result of their involvement in the violence and willful destruction of people’s property in the area”.Chief Ikpor described the allegations against him as ridiculous and urged the public to discountenanced it .Efforts to speak with the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer Loveth Odah ( Mrs) proved abortive as her mobile telephone lines were switched off when calls were put across to her.
