ISIALA NGWA (ABIA) – Armed thugs on Thursday attacked the campaign team of Dr. Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia, on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Eyewitnesses said that Otti’s motorcade was on its way for a town hall meeting at Mbawsi in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of the state, when the thugs waylaid it at Ntigha Junction on the expressway.
The thugs were said to have blocked the way to Mbawsi, shooting randomly into the air, resulting in a stampede as motorists on the expressway as well as cyclists, passersby and hawkers at the junction ran to different directions for safety.
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A cyclist at the junction, who identified himself simply as Sunday, said that the incident happened around 2 p.m., adding that the thugs were later repelled by youths of the area ‘’assisted by policemen.’’
He said, ‘’the thugs came in branded buses and blocked the road to Mbawsi.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
‘’We sensed that there was danger and they started shooting as soon as Otti’s convoy (motorcade) approached the junction.
‘’The resultant stampede made vehicles on the expressway, motorcyclists, hawkers and everybody to run for safety.’’
He said that Otti’s motorcade parked by the roadside until the thugs took to their heels.
It was gathered that signs of a possible disruption of Otti’s town hall meetings in the area was noticed in the morning when thugs attacked and vandalised a vehicle bearing a public address system, which was going round playing Otti’s campaign songs and jingles.
The campaign team later moved to Ntigha to hold a town hall meeting with the people before moving to Mbawsi, where they were received by a large crowd of supporters.
The youths of the area turned the meeting into a carnival as they danced round the community, chanting pro-Otti’s songs and displaying his campaign posters.
It would be recalled that the APGA governorship candidate’s campaign team was allegedly attacked by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) thugs at Oboro in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state on March 9, while on their way to town hall meetings in the area.
However, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, denied the allegation that the thugs were hired by PDP. (NAN)