Ebonyi State Police Command has reportedly nabbed Mr Charles Ofoke - the State APC Secretary and Mr Chijioke Nwuzor - the Coordinator of Nnodo Development Centre in Izzi LGA and their cohorts for having allegedly tried to execute murder and other vicious damages orchestrated against a staff of the Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliliki, Comrade John Nwiboko just because of their misunderstanding on a village leadership tussle.
Narrating his ordeals, Mr John Nwiboko, a victim, alleged his car was burnt down during the attack allegedly carried out by the two arrested APC Chieftains alongside their alleged affiliates - Joseph Nwambam, Felix Okemini and Paul Nwogha - the immediate past Executive Chairman of Izzi LGA of Ebonyi State.
Nwiboko told newsmen in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital that he narrowly escaped from being killed by his attackers after setting ablaze his car and other valuables worthy of over 10 million Naira.
In a petition filed against the alleged attackers by Barrister Michael Odo, the Counsel of Mr John Nwiboko noted that the suspects including Charles Ofoke, Chijioke Nwuzor, Joseph Nwambam, Felix Okemini (aka Jango) and Paul Nwogha were accused of attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms and explosives, willful burning down of vehicle and conduct likely to cause a breach of public security in the state.
Barrister Odo in the petition dated 6th October 2022 and addressed to the State Director of State Security Service (DSS) of Ebonyi State Command, said: "Our client (John Nwiboko) informed us that on 31st January 2022 at about 11:45 pm, the suspects namely; Charles Ofoke, Chijioke Nwuzor, Joseph Nwambam, Felix Okemini (aka Jango) and others whose names are unknown to our clients but can be recognized if seen, armed themselves with guns, clubs, axes, explosives and several other deadly weapons and invaded our client's private compound at No. 8 Comrade John Nwiboko Close Amike Aba, Abakaliki in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
"On arrival at our client's house, the suspects opened fire and threw an unidentified explosive on our client's Peugeot 504 Salon Car and threatened to pull down our client's one-storey building and kill our client and his family members.
"According to our client, it was the barking of our client's dog that alerted our client to the danger and our client woke up and escaped through the back door and ran for safety. While our client was running for safety, the suspects shoot at our client but our client narrowly missed death as a result of the distance between our client and the suspects. When the suspects discovered that our client had escaped and that they were unable to gun him down, they returned to our client's house and set ablaze our client's car and other valuables including his laptops inside it. The picture of the said car is hereby attached."
The Lawyer also in the petition noted: "In the course of running for his dear life, our client fell into a ditch and injured his left leg and sustained serious injuries. Our client reported the matter to the police and one of the suspects Mr Charles Ofoke was arrested. When the above-mentioned suspect was arrested, Hon Paul Nwogha, the immediate past Executive Chairman of Izzi Local Government Area came to the police station to take the arrested suspect on bail and in the process, he (Nwogha) opted to ensure he settled the matter and pay for the damaged properties.
"The arrested suspect was released to him on bail and he stood as a surety to the suspect. Our client further informed us that under the intervention of Hon Paul Nwogha, the arrested suspect was released to Paul Nwogha on the understanding that he (Paul Nwogha) will settle the matter. Unknown to our client, the purported settlement was a ploy to make sure that the suspect will not be prosecuted.
He recalled in the petition as handed down to him by his client, John Nwiboko that, "after the release of the suspect (Charles Ofoke) a meeting was convened by Hon Paul Nwogha in his compound at Low-Cost Housing Estate. During the peace meeting, the arrested suspect Mr Charles Ofoke revealed to everybody in attendance that the attack was prepared against our client's young brother Engineer Chukwuma Oyibe, but Hon Paul Nwogha whom the suspects were working for, directed the suspects to leave Engineer Chukwuma Oyibe because he is an in-law to Hon Paul Nwogha and that the attackers should rather attack our client Mr John Nwiboko. The peace meeting revealed that Hon Paul Nwogha runs the suspects as a gang of killers who carry out his directives.
"Our client informed us that the suspects are still threatening that they will kill our client and every member of his family including our client's younger brother Engineer Chukwuma Oyibe and his family members too.
"Our client is now living in fear and persistent threat to his life and that of his family members by the suspects. Our client verily believes that Hon Paul Nwogha the former Executive Chairman of Izzi Local Government Area is planning to use the suspects to kill our client and he is ready to carry out his plan of eliminating our client's life if he is not called to the order by appropriating security agencies."
Barrister Odo stated that his client Comrade John Nwiboko has also discovered that the former Executive Chairman of the Izzi Local Government Area "Hon Paul Nwogha was the person who organized the attack on our client for reasons best known to him and that was why he quickly came for the bail of the arrested suspect and has been making effort to pacify our client by offering him some money as a settlement."
The Legal Practitioner in the petition urged the security to quickly invite and interrogate Hon Paul Nwogha on his involvement in the attempted assassination of the client.
He also appealed that Paul Nwogha and his cohorts should enter a written undertaking not to attack or kill his client (John Nwiboko), his younger brother Engineer Chukwuma Oyibe or any member of their families and if otherwise, the suspects have to be held responsible, stressing that his client would provide necessary information which may be helpful to this investigation by security men and other relevant body.
Investigation revealed that the case which has lingered to the attempted murder, burning of vehicle and destruction of other valuables emanated from the fines levelled on Mr Joseph Nwambam, Sunday Abachi, Ogbonna Nwizi, Joseph Nkwegu and Ogbaga Itsuke by their co-villagers, the people of Igweledeoha Village in Ezza-Inyimegu Community in Izzi LGA of Ebonyi State on 6th January 2022 for having found them guilty of their false allegations against their Village Head, Mr Cyril Nwite.
The four persons were punished by their village people according to the custom and practices of the Izhi clan in the state, following their false allegations and forgery of signatures, claiming that a new village leadership had been decided and approved.
On hearing the decision by the village members against the culprits, Comrade John Nwiboko who is one of the Igweledeoha Village stakeholders revealed that he received a life-threatening phone call on 10th January 2022 from Mr Charles Ofoke, the State APC Scribe that hails from another village (Ndiokeda Ezza-Inyimegu), and the party chieftain allegedly sworn to kill him and to badly deal with him in different dimensions should he failed to instruct his village head, Mr Cyril Nwite, to refund the fines back to the alleged offenders.
John Nwiboko accused Charles Ofoke, the APC Secretary whom he said claimed to show the villagers that his party controls power in the state and that nothing would stop him from attacking them, by turning the village into a crisis zone if they refused to pay back the fines to the alleged village lawbreakers.
Nwiboko also revealed that he received a similar life-threatening call from the Coordinator of the Nnodo Development Centre in Izzi LGA of Ebonyi State, Chijoke Nwuzor, ordering him to come to his office on 12th January 2022, due to his threats, he told the coordinator that he would not come. The threat calls by Nwiboko's alleged attackers were all recorded, to prove as evidence, the victim revealed to our correspondent.
He hinted: "That Mr Joseph Nwambam who according to the coordinator appealed after the settlement of the case by the Igweledeoha Village conspiring against me and making plans with the APC Secretary in Ebonyi State Charles Ofoke and the Nnodo DC Coordinator Chijioke Nwuzor and others to get me killed.
"At this point, I request that arrest should be ongoing to bring Paul Nwogha, Mr Felix Okemini (aka Jango) and their cohorts to book as Charles Ofoke, Chijioke Nwuzor and Joseph Nwambam have been arrested while the investigation will continue by the police."
Further investigation revealed that on 14th January 2022, the villagers sent a letter to the former Executive Chairman of Izzi Local Government Area, Paul Nwogha while still in power.
The letter signed by Mr Cyril Nwite (Village Head) and Mr Felix Elechi (Secretary) was tagged: "Complaint on the Purported Dissolution of the Leadership of Igweledeoha Ezza-Inyimegu Village by Hon Chijioke Nwuzor, Coordinator of Nnodo Development Centre and Conducts Likely to Cause Breach of Public Peace in the Village; an Appeal for your Quick Intervention."
The letter which was also copied to the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State - Engineer David Umahi, the Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly - Rt Hon Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, and the State's Special Security Consultant - Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha underscored that the village has been known as a very peaceful town; guided by Izhi Law and Customs, through which, the current leadership of the village was set up via election held in 2020, with Mr Cyril Nwite chosen as the village head.
The letter, however, stated: "By the said Custom and Practice of the village, the tenure of the village head and other executives shall be for 4 years. On the 6th day of January 2022, the annual general meeting of the village which is usually made up of those at home and in various cities of Nigeria was held at the village square wherein some persons were found wanting for acts capable of causing crises in the village. Those persons include Messrs Joseph Nwambam, Joseph Nkwegu, Sunday Abachi, Ogbonna Nwizi and Ogbaga Itsuki."
The above-alleged defaulters according to the letter were fined and they paid fines which it stated were in line with the Izhi native law and custom after their respective apologies were accepted by the entire village assembly.
The letter revealed several efforts and threats made by the State APC Secretary, Charles Ofoke and Nnodo DC Coordinator, Chijioke Nwuzor, just to reconvene the village's general meeting and cancel the fines, already paid by the defaulters, but was later not successful.
The villagers expressed their shock in the letter for having heard on the EBBC radio' an announcement credited to the DC Coordinator, Chijioke Nwuzor to the effect that the leadership of Igweledeoha village has been dissolved and that a new leadership headed by Mr Thomas Nwokpoku has been constituted, saying the development nearly caused a total breakdown of law and order in the area, hence the intervention of the elders led to reporting the matter to the government in power.
Reacting, one of the accused, the APC Secretary, Charles confirmed his arrest by the police, but debunked allegations levelled against him by Comrade John Nwiboko.
He said: "What I know about the matter is that between November and December, last year, the village head of Igweledeoha came to me and told me that there is a problem in his village, and the Coordinator intervened. I asked him what he wants me to do? He told me to tell the coordinator to stop coming to his village to settle the matter. I asked him why he doesn't allow the coordinator to come and settle the matter? He said I should tell the coordinator to stop, and that he is capable of handling the matter. After like two days, John Nwiboko now came to me, that I should please ask the coordinator to allow them to go home and settle the matter. After a few days, he told me that the members of the village from outside the state will come and settle the matter. Around January his wife called me, saying some group of people came to her husband's house and burned her husband's car. I told her that I'm not connected to the burning of the car. Of what important to me burning 504? John Nwiboko is aware that I have flirts of car in my house and I never involved myself in any criminal case. What the man did was arrest me, and wrote a petition against me that I burnt his vehicle. In his first petition, he said, he saw me burning his vehicle. When we went to one of our elders' homes to settle the matter, he said I sent people to come to burn his vehicle. I have been receiving calls from other journalists on this matter and I'm not connected to the allegations, he dished out against me, just to tarnish my good image."
On his part, another one of the accused persons, Chijioke Nwuzor, who is the Coordinator of the NNodo Development Centre, said he was not connected with the attack on Comrade John Nwiboko.
He said: "I did not attack him (John Nwiboko) and I did not burn his car. He wrote a petition against me and others, including the former chairman of Izzi Local Government Area, the APC Secretary of Ebonyi State, my humble self and others. Last week, Police came alongside him to my house, armed with guns and arrested me. We went for an interview with the Commandant of the Commissioner of Police's monitoring unit. This is an attempt to tarnish my good image, because last year, a written complain was made against the village head and some of his cabinet members by some of the village members. I had a meeting with the two groups at my office as the Coordinator of the Nnodo Development Centre, after inviting both parties. Unfortunately, the village head didn't answer my call. Then, I invited him for the second time, he didn't also answer, even when I spoke with him on phone, he agreed to come but unfortunately he could not honour the invitation.
"Later, I called him to know why he refused to come to my office, he said he can't answer me. After consultation, I got approval from our former council chairman that the village head should be suspended from office. That was announced over the air, and they were properly communicated as well. So, they wrote a petition against me to the Governor of Ebonyi State. They wrote to the Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly. They wrote to the Commissioner for Local Government Development and Chieftaincy Matters, and they wrote to the Chairman of the Local Government Area. They were invited alongside me but unfortunately, in their usual manner, the group absconded from answering the Commissioner for Local Government Development and Chieftaincy matters, Hon Donatus Njoku.
"The next thing is that they went to court, and the community summoned a meeting and cautioned them, that they are not toeing the right path, and that they made a very mistake by not answering my office, it was insubordination. How can they ignore the invitations of the constituted authorities, whose one of their core duties are to ensure peace and tranquillity in all parts of the Development Centre. After sometime, I learnt that John Nwiboko was attacked and his car was burnt. He posted his picture on our community development Union's platform, and everybody on the platform including my humble self commiserated with him.
"Later again, I learnt that he wrote a petition, alleging that it was the APC Secretary in Ebonyi State, and some other people attacked him. I know that the APC Secretary was arrested by the Police. They later settle the matter but how they settled it, I don't know, because I was not part of it.
"But unfortunately, last week I saw men from the police who came to arrest me, and he brought another petition alleging that I was part of the people who came to his house and with guns, attacked him."
Also reacting to the allegations, Paul Nwogha - the former Executive Chairman of Izzi LGA of the state, described them as falsehood and a total calculation by the enemies to tarnish his good image.
Nwogha said: "My reaction is very simple. I have never involved myself in the destruction of property, let alone burning anybody's car. It's just an allegation, which is a subject of investigation. Thank God that the matter is before the Nigerian Police Force, let them go and do a thorough investigation and if I am part of it, not only if I am part of it in the sense that I participated by proxy, but if I participated in person, if I participated in the financing the attack, of course, I should be held culpable.
"But I'm telling you categorically that I am not part of the attack. What rather happened was that when he petitioned against a certain group of persons whom he accused of burning down his car, and as the then Local Government Chairman because he is from my local government area, and I know him very well, I decided to intervene.
"My intervention was to give me this matter and let me go and find out the truth because traditionally, there are ways we do things, to find out the truth if somebody is lying.
"And after my discussion with them, I discovered that his car was burnt but it was very difficult for us to say, this is the person who burnt the car. And from my purse, I gave him some money to cushion the effects before reporting back to the Police, that this is the level I could reach. That was my role. I am surprised at this time to hear that he accused me of participating in burning his car. My personal advice to John Nwiboko, is that if somebody is sponsoring him to mention people's names, he should desist from doing that, because everything shouldn't be politics. Of course, as we are approaching the 2023 election, I understand that desperate politicians could be looking one way or the other to tarnish a group of some person's image. He should desist from that, he should rather face the reality. Let him make peace with people and allow the Nigerian Police Force to do their investigation and probably find out the people who participated in the crime."
Several efforts made to hear from other persons who were equally accused by John Nwiboko proved abortive as their phone numbers were not reachable as of the time of filing this report.
However, the Executive Chairman of the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Barr Steve Nwamkpa Emenike confirmed the incident.
The Council Chairman said: "I know that last week, Nnodo Development Centre Coordinator, Hon Chijioke Nwuzor was arrested by one Mr John Nwiboko alleging that many months ago he conspired with former chairman of Izzi LGA, Hon James Paul Nwogha, APC Secretary Chukwuma Ofoke and others to attack him. He allegedly stated that his car was burnt down by the accused persons.
"That they conspired against him. That they were in unlawful possession of firearms, and other allegations. I intervened in that matter, asking them that we need to sit down and talk about the matter. If there is any conduct that is capable of threatening public security, I think I would have been given the privilege of alerting me. I tell him I needed to have the details of the petition."
He said that presently, there is peaceful decorum in his council area including the Igweledeoha Ezza-Inyimegu village.
"I want to categorically tell you that as a Chief Security Officer of Izzi LGA, no one had reported to me that his or her life is in jeopardy. No such matter is before my table, up to this date and there is peace in my council area."
Confirming from the State Police Spokesman, SP Chris Anyanwu said that information was yet to reach his office and promised to update our correspondent when he gets a full account of the incident at the time of filing this report.
