The deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Ifeanyi Ossia has been accused of threatening Catholic priests in Enugu North senatorial district for preaching against bad leadership and asking people not vote for people who have been using government machinery to terrorise the people in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that a few days before the election, some armed thugs invaded several Catholic church parishes in Nsukka and threatened Reverend fathers and their parishioners over their choice to vote against the candidates of PDP.
Since the incident, neither the PDP nor the government of Enugu State had condemned the invasion and the attacks on the religious leaders.
One of the affected Catholic priests who didn’t want to be named because his bishop hasn’t authorised him to speak to the press, said “the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has approached the church leadership to douse the tension. However, the deputy governorship candidate is yet to apologize.
“He hasn’t been elected and has started threatening fire and brimstone on how he will deal ruthlessly with priests and those who didn’t support PDP, when he became deputy governor then he will be a terror to people of Enugu State.
“It is good that they are showing their colour before the election,” he said.
In another development, the Enugu State chapter of the PDP said it has petitioned the Inspector General of Police against the senator-elect for Enugu North senatorial district, Chief Okey Ezea over what it described as inciting statements ahead of the March 11 governorship election.
The PDP Campaign Council in a statement issued on Sunday, said they were calling on the IGP to arrest and prosecute Ezea, who was the Labour Party’s candidate in the February 25 National Assembly election.
According to the statement, the petition was dated March 2, 2023, and entitled “Petition Against Mr. Okey Ezea for Threats of and Incitement to Violence,” and was signed by the state secretary of the party, Mr Cletus Akalusi.
The petition stated that Ezae made some offensive statements while addressing his supporters at his Itchi country home in Igboeze South Local Government Area of the state, where he described the forthcoming governorship election in the state as ‘a do-or-die game’ in Enugu North Senatorial District.
“These threats of and incitement to violence were made without any provocation and obviously represent a first step in the pack of plots to unleash mayhem on unsuspecting citizens of Enugu State on election day.
They noted that a video of Mr Ezea making those assertions haf gone viral on social media platforms and has instilled fear and panic among our teeming supporters in Enugu North Senatorial Zone in particular and Enugu State in general of the likelihood of violence on the day of the governorship election.
Therefore, they called on police to immediately arrest and prosecute Mr Okey Ezea so as to ensure the peaceful conduct of governorship elections in Enugu State on March 11, 2023.
