There could be more to the recent alarm on the invasion of Enugu Govt House, Assistant Editor, North, Chuks Ehirim, reports
Residents of Enugu State woke up on Saturday, March 8, 2014 to shocking news that actually caused some stir in the country. The information was that no fewer than 50 armed men had invaded the Government House in the early hours of that day, trying to force their way into the Governor’s Office.
The report, in fact, claimed that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the Governor, Fidelis Ogarabe, had told newsmen that the armed men struck around 4.30 a.m and attempted to force their way into the premises.
One person was said to have been killed,and three others injured in the operation.
Ogarabe gave a graphic picture of how he left the Government House about 2 a.m and was in his house when he received a call from his men around 4 a.m alerting him of the presence of some armed invaders at the Government House.
“I drove to the place immediately and saw some persons numbering about 50 armed with machetes at the gate, trying to force their way into the premises.
“I ordered my men to move into action immediately and one of them was gunned down while three others were arrested.
“The others threw away their machetes and escaped,” he was quoted to have said.
Ogarabe said his men recovered machetes, flags and insignia linked to a cult group, adding that a member of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) suffered machete cuts, while a military patrol vehicle was also attacked in the bid by the assailants to force their way into the Government House.
According to him, those arrested were handed over to nearby New Haven Police Station.
Governor Sullivan ChimeGovernor Sullivan Chime was said to have been in his country home at Udi when the armed men allegedly struck.
Chief Press Secretary, (CPS) to the Governor, ChukwudiAchife, confirmed the report. But many of those spoken to in Enugu by this reporter dismissed the piece of story as nothing but a fairy tale concocted by supporters of the governor, as political gladiators in the state line up against him over who controls the politics of the state in the build-up to 2015.
A source in the state, who doubted the authenticity of the story, told The Niche that journalists in the state ought to have been taken to the scene of the shoot-out between security men and the ‘attackers’, to prove that there was such a thing.
“I expected those spreading this rumour to have taken journalists to the scene of that alleged shoot-out and showed them bullet marks, possibly on the walls of buildings within the Government House,” he said. “It is completely unbelievable that in this age and time, a group of youths would attempt to take over a government just with machetes and sticks.”
Achife was not forthcoming with facts regarding the story when this newspaper called him up on phone two days after the incident. Asked who the government was suspecting to have staged the insurrection, Achife said only the police could unravel the identity of the alleged assailants.
“We do not know those behind the attack. Only the police who are investigating the matter can say who they are,” Achife said.
A day later, the police in Enugu came up with a report that the group of young men who invaded the Enugu Government House with machetes were on a mission to take over the Government House.
Briefing newsmen, the Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Mohammed, said the young men under the aegis of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) stormed the Government House to forcefully take over the Enugu seat of power.
“In the process of interrogating them, the arrested persons gave us the names of those who invited them to Enugu to hoist the MASSOB flag. The motive of those who invited them is what we are trying to establish,” Abubakar said.
He gave the names of those who were arrested as Ifeanyi Chukwuma, Francis Nwaemeka, Sunday Okafor and Shedrack Onwuka Obi, all from Anambra State.
Items recovered from the suspected mutineers, he said, were two big banners bearing symbol of the Republic of Biafra, 34 assorted flags including those belonging to the defunct Republic of Biafra, Britain, United States and Israel, one big bag containing charms, eight machetes and a saw.
The police boss was quoted as saying that the suspects admitted to being members of the pro-Biafra group and had owned up to the fact that they were invited by some persons in Enugu to hoist the Biafra flag at the Government House.
He said his men were already out in search of the alleged sponsors of the group whose identities he declined to make public, adding, however, that until their sponsors were arrested, it would be difficult to ascertain their actual motive.
“We will charge the arrested persons to court while we continue to look for their sponsors,” the Police Commissioner said
Investigations by The Niche, however, point to the fact that the so-called invasion of Enugu State Government House by unarmed youths may, after all, be a hoax. A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity, dismissed it as part of the intrigues in the infighting within the party in the state.
According to the source, the silent war brewing in the state chapter of PDP, especially with the return of the godfather of the Ebeano political family, former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, may have informed the alarm from Chime’s camp. He said the governor’s henchmen had always resorted to this kind of antics each time he came under pressure from his opponents.
“In 2011, Governor Chime raised false alarm twice concerning bomb explosions before that year’s governorship election. At the end of the day, it became clear that there was no bomb explosion anywhere in the state. It is this trick that is being played now that another election is around the corner,” he said.
The source spoke of the row between the governor’s camp and that of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
The governor, according to the source, has almost successfully edged out Ekweremadu from the 2015 governorship race in the state, having tactically zoned the governorship slot from the senator’s Enugu-West to Enugu-North (Nsukka) Senatorial District.
The problem did not stop there for Ekweremadu. In fact, Chime is said to be plotting to deny him a return ticket to the Senate. He is rather said to be positioning himself for the seat.
Similarly, Chime is reportedly working hard to stop his predecessor, Nnamani, from returning to the Senate in 2015. It was gathered that the governor is reserving the Enugu-East ticket for his Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo.
It is said that this scheming by Chime to position himself and his cronies for major political slots in the Senate has led to the realignment of political forces against him. The Ebeano political family is the major force to look out for as the battle gets messier in the state, it has been alleged. Already, it is being speculated that Ekweremadu and Nnamani are re-building the structure that seemed to have gone moribund.
To ward off the aggression from his perceived foes, Chime is alleged to have gone back to the old trick of raising false alarm, apparently to win public sympathy. But whether this will pay off this time remains to be seen.