The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southeast report

  • Senator Oji gives transformers, tricycles to constituents

    The senator representing Abia Central senatorial district at the senate, Senator Theodore Orji has given out electricity transformers to five rural communities to enable to boost their power supply.

    The senator also gave out tricycles to five youths from different communities who have stood behind him since he became a senator.

    He urged them to use the items to better their lives and take care of their families.

    Speaking in Umuahia while handing over the items to various communities and the youths, Orji said that he was not sent to Abuja to gallivant but to look for good things that will benefit his people and bring same back.

    Orji said that what he has been doing since he joined politics has been to give back to the society and its people who have stood behind him and given him support, stressing that it is one of the ways to bring dividends of democracy closer to the people.

    He said, “When God blesses you, you have the obligation to give back to the people who are not so privileged to be blessed and it is also one of the ways that urban migration could be curbed when the rural areas are opened up”.

    The immediate past governor of the state noted that he has been empowering the people of his senatorial district which he has been doing almost on monthly basis, “Whenever I return from Abuja, I always give to my people the little I have which I believe has been impacting on their lives”.

    Orji said, “I have bought five electric transformers which will be given to five communities and they cost N3.2m each which comes to N16m while the tricycles will be given to five youths who have never stopped working for me politically”.

    “The communities which are in need of electric transformers which may not benefit today should exercise patience including the youths who will not benefit, as there is always tomorrow as their turn will surely come”.

    “I decided to give those items personally because we have noticed that when some of our items are given those who are supposed to get them do not get them, I recalled that the last time we gave out tricycles some hoodlums nearly snatched one of them if not for the intervention of my security details”.

    “I want to use this forum to warn those who will benefit from the tricycles not to sell them, I want you to use them to make a living that will help to uplift your standard of living, selling them will make me unhappy”.

    Orji said that the transformer benefiting communities will not have to worry about transporting them home, as vehicles have been provided to take them to their communities.

    Earlier in his speech the chairman of the occasion and the member representing Ikwuano-Umuahia federal constituency at the house of representative, Hon Sam Onuigbo said that the people of the senatorial district are happy with their senator for the things he has been doing for them.

    Onuigbo urged those benefitting communities to make good use of the transformers so that their communities and their people will be better for it and advised the tricycle beneficiaries to ride it with care.

  • Fury of host communities

    Amid despair following an attack on the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), President Muhammadu Buhari has warned such invaders of severe consequences, reports OKODILI NDIDI

    It is foolhardiness for a host to harm his guest. This is an ageless African adage that buttresses the brotherliness and friendship that define host-guest relationship. Your guest is your brother and should be protected and given the best treatment, especially when he behaves himself and keeps to the host’s etiquette.

    This wise counsel was jettisoned by the host communities to the nation’s premier university of technology, the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) when they invaded the school in the dead of night and unleashed such wanton destruction as stunned the institution’s management, students and other people of good conscience.

    The marauders demolished the newly erected perimeter fence of the university measuring over 1.5km, valued at N60 million.

    The incident has thrown the university community into fear of further attacks from the host communities.

    The bickering between the university and the host communities including Ihiagwa, Obinze, Umuanunu, Eziobodo and Avu did not start today. They have been locked in fierce dispute over the university land which was duly acquired with full compensations paid by the Federal Government but which the community is laying claim to.

    The host communities despite all efforts by the university management to resolve the matter have continued to encroach on the expansive land, selling and building houses on plots designated for academic projects.

    To forestall this ugly trend, the management painstakingly commenced the perimeter fencing of the entire university land. The labourers worked day and night and the walls grew taller each day as if it sprouted from the ground. But just when the university was about consolidating the new sense of security occasioned by the high walls, it came crashing. And what used to be an impregnable and imposing wall was reduced to ruins in one night of mindless destruction.

    Briefing journalists before the latest invasion of the university by hoodlums, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Francis Eze, had lamented that the university is under serious threat over the criminal activities of land speculators who have invaded the institution’s land.

    He disclosed that the encroach-ment on the university land by unauthorised land grabbers poses serious danger to lives and property of the management and students, as well as the corporate existence of the institution.

    Prof Eze pointed out that the forceful takeover of the institution’s land by the speculators recently assumed a dangerous dimension with the pulling down of the exit gate and the security house by the invaders.

    He said, “The university duly acquired the land in compliance with laid down procedures including the full payment of all settlements to the host communities. But the recent encroachment on the University land is so overwhelming that you can call it invasion”.

    He, however, warned, saying, “All those patronising land speculators and buying FUTO land and building on the land will lose their money as the buildings will be demolished”.

    Eze stated that the management of the University has started perimeter fencing of the University, “We have started the perimeter fencing of the University at a huge cost just to protect the land. Last time some group of persons brought heavy equipment and brought down our gatehouse; it is that bad but we will no longer allow that. All those buying and building on FUTO land are doing so at their own risk”.

    The Vice Chancellor disclosed that the University has been up and doing in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility by engaging in medical outreaches for the host communities, as well as providing jobs and admissions for qualified students from the communities.

    He also hinted that another major worry for the university is the activities of illegal miners that have been mining sand under the foot of the bridge in the school premises.

    “If nothing is done about the menace of the sand miners, this bridge built at a huge cost will collapse one day,” he said.

    Also at different occasions, the youths from the host communities have disrupted ongoing projects in the university to demand illegal payments from contractors and the school management.

    Meanwhile one of the leaders of the host communities, who didn’t want his name in print, said that the land was acquired at a time the people were yet to appreciate the value of such expanse of land.

    He said, “We have lost all our ancestral lands to the university. We don’t even have any land left to farm on, so what we are saying is that the university cannot acquire our whole land, we need to renegotiate, that’s all we are demanding”.

    Amid the gloom in the university community, some hope has come from the highest office in the land. President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that invasion of institutions of higher learning will no longer be tolerated.

    He also directed security agencies to go after the invaders and bring them to justice.

    The president was speaking at the 30th convocation of the university at the weekend where he was represented by the Minister of State for Education Prof Anthony Anwuka.

     

  • Communities oppose inclusion in new diocese

    Another religious crisis involving the Catholic Church, similar to that of Ahiara Diocese in Imo State, is brewing in Enugu State.

    What caused the crisis? There is a proposal that Udi Catholic Diocese  be carved out from the Enugu Diocese.

    Trouble is that the people of Udi North led by their traditional rulers are kicking against their inclusion in the proposed Udi Catholic Diocese which has its headquarters in Udi South.

    They are also demanding the restoration of Eke Deanery, Eke town being the first place the Catholic Church settled in Agbaja clan.

    The traditional rulers in Udi North championing the cause include those of Eke, Abor, Ebe, Ukana, Awhum and Okpatu.

    Others include Umulumgbe, Umuoka, Egede, Affa, Akpakwume and Nze communities.

    They have affirmed their opposition of inclusion of their areas in the proposed Diocese, as they insist that the Status of Eke as a Diocese must be restored.

    According to Igwe Chinwendu Onuoha, the traditional ruler of Eke, the abolition of the Deanary Status of Eke was the root of the injustice the people of the zone had suffered since the exit of Bishop Eneje of the blessed memory.

    He said that Eke was made a Deanary by Eneje and it had enjoyed the Status until he left and the succeeding Bishop, Anthony Gbuji, for reasons they did not understand, abolished it and went ahead to create more Deanaries, all being offshoots of Eke Parish.

    Recounting the history of Eke as a Parish, he said that it was incontrovertible that the Catholic Church set its foot in Enugu and environs on Eke. Other parishes including the Gholy Ghost Cathedral Enugu, which serves as the Diocesan Headquarters, today, as well as other parishes such as Oturkpo, Makurdi, Idah, Abakaliki, etc, which are all Dioceses at the moment.

    Also speaking on the, Engr Geoffrey Okolo, a native of Eke said that it was the legendary Chief Onyeama of Eke who invited Bishop Shanahan who was then resident in Onitsha to Eke in 1910.

    From then, Eke became an out station of Onitisha and priests were coming from Onitsha and Aguleri to conduct mass at Eke until 1912 when Eke became a parish with a resident priest.

    He said Eke became the parent parish for the out stations in Enugu, Abakaliki, Idah, Oturkpo and Makurdi. These out stations were later to become parishes with their own resident priests.

    According to him, Onyeama, who was the paramount ruler of Agbaja Kingdom, comprising the entire communities in Udi and Ezeagu local government areas of today were made to be members of the Catholic Church. This, he said, was the reason the Catholic Church remains the predominant denomination in the areas till date.

    He said: “for whatever is the reason for the Catholic Diocesan Headquarters in Enugu, they, the people of Udi North would not be part of the proposed Udi Diocese.

    Udi North, he said, are made of three regions, being, Okpatu, Eke and Affa, and it is hoped that these Regions would one day become Deanaries on their way to becoming Dioceses.

    Igwe of Ukana, Tagbo Ubaka said: “we are asking for little: Return the Status of Eke as a Deanary and leave us as part of Enugu Diocese. Anything short of this is not acceptable to us.”

    Geoffrey Nnadi, a leading member of Laity said that people should be sincere so that peace will reign.

    “We cannot run our lives outside our history. Eke is the history of the Catholic Church in this part of Nigeria, including Benue, Kogi, Ebonyi and Enugu.

    He gave the names of the Pioneer priests as Fr. Alloysius Muller 1910 – 1914, Fr Joachim Corria, 1915 and Fr. Marcel Gradin, 1915 – 1919, etc, insisting that the records were there to be checked.

    Igwe of Awhum, Charles Ugwu, said that old Eke Deanary had no continuity with the proposed Udi Diocese and it would amount to gross injustice to remove them from Enugu Diocese. Awhum, his community, he said, has common boundary with Abakpa and a part of Trans Ekulu Enugu. Abor, he said, owns a great part of Trans Ekulu, especially the Phase 6 side of it, same with Ukana.

    Enquiries by the The Southeast Report on the matter at the headquarters of Enugu Diocese yielded no fruits.

    But a source who preferred to remain anonymous said it is only the Vatican that can decide on the issue.

  • Buhari, Ikpeazu, Akeredolu, Aregbesola, Orji, others join Emenike to bury mum

    President Muhammadu Buhari was joined by other eminent politicians from across the country to witness the burial ceremony of the mother of Chief Ikechi Emenike, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State.

    Speaking at the burial ceremony at Umukabia, Umuahia North council area of Abia State, President Buhari said the was need for the country to be united through a handshake across the Niger.

    Buhari noted that Nigeria at this time needs more bridge builders across ethnic, religious and political divides for the country to attain the much desired national cohesion, peace and harmony among the diverse peoples.

    The President, who was represented by the minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said that there was need for those in political leadership and high in the society to build bridges of understanding and goodwill by using their positions well.

    He explained that he was in Abia because Chief Emenike, who is one of the children of the deceased, “is a bridge builder among us” who has used his endowment and position to help people and make them realise their goals in life.

    President Buhari described Emenike’s mother, Nneoma Helen Egobekee Emenike Uwagbama who passed away at the age of 85 as woman who did not spare the rod as her children were well brought up and helping to mould the society.

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu noted that Mama Emenike lived a good life as exemplified by the quality of her children, adding that the family should immortalise the good virtues of their matriarch.

    Ikpeazu called on them not to deviate from the good training they got from their late mother and consoled them by saying that they should not cry those who do not know Christ as death is an avenue every living being must pass through.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Ondo state said that he was in Abia to testify to the humane character of Chief Emenike, who described as is a man of honour and dignity, while Governor Rotimi Akeredolu urged Emenike to be happy for being alive to bury his mother.

    In his sermon, the Prelate Emeritus, Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence Dr Sunday Mbang, warned politicians against indulging in politics of blackmail.

    Mbang said politicians erroneously believed they could control time only to find out that when it was already late that and urged those who are still living in that delusion to retrace their steps before it is too late.

    The Methodist cleric said: “Today God has asked me to tell you that whatever you plan you have no control over time, as only God knows what tomorrow holds for each and everyone in this world”.

    Chief Emenike, a publisher, development economist and politician, in his funeral speech extolled the life of his late mother, noting that mothers are truly the ones created in the image of God, adding that they go extra mile to ensure the success of their children.

    He descried mothers as the most kindhearted creatures whom God used to make the most sacrifice to see to the upbringing of their children and the welfare of the family.

    Emenike said, “If not for my mother I would have ended up as a roadside mechanic and my senior brother, a roadside panel bearer, our mother insisted and sacrificed to ensure that all her eight children got the best education”.

    The attendance at the funeral defied political colouration, geographical and religious locations as governors, senators, ministers, senior clerics, and captains of industry were among the huge crowd of mourners and sympathisers that attended the funeral ceremony.

    These include Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and the host governor, Ikpeazu.

    Other high profile personalities that came to condole with the Emenike family were Senators Theodore Orji (Abia Central) Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, former governor of Abia and now minister of science and technology, Chief Timipre Silva, former governor of Bayelsa State and former military president General Ibrahim Babangida, who was represented by Senator Dagash Dangana.

     

  • Lassa fever: 30 under surveillance in Abia after doctor’s death

    Following the reported death of Dr Chizorom Ndukwu after contracting Lassa fever, the management of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia has placed 30 persons believed to have come in contact with her under surveillance.

    Dr Ndukwu, a resident doctor at the facility, who was just about a month on the job, was said to have died of Lassa fever at the Nigerian Centre of Disease Control (NCDC), Irrua, Edo state where she was taken for treatment.

    Speaking with newsmen in Umuahia, the Medical Director (MD) of FMC Umuahia, Dr Abali Chuku during a joint press conference with the state commissioner for health, Dr John Ahukanna, he confirmed the ugly incident but assured that it would be contained.

    Dr Chukwu said that because of the death and how it happened that the hospital has deployed its surveillance protocol team to trace those who have had contact with the doctor before she died.

    He said, “The management of Federal Medical Centre Umuahia regrets to announce the death of her staff. She died of Lassa fever; the deceased was initially admitted at FMC in the course of her illness”.

    The MD of FMC Umuahia said that the need to place dozens of persons on surveillance arose due to the fact that some members of staff of the medical facility had come in contact with the deceased in the course of her management.

    He, however, explained that not every person under surveillance has the same level of risk, “Every possible contact whether patient or person will be identified, defined and put on surveillance”.

    Dr Chuku said, “Though every doubt about the cause of the death of the resident doctor has been cleared the mangement of FMC Umuahia has not been able to trace the contact point where the deceased contracted the virus”.

    The MD said that an 11-month old baby was brought from a private hospital on March 12 and died the following day after admission at FMC, adding that the death of the baby was being investigated, as the baby was said to have been treated by the deceased doctor.

    He said that the patient was referred by a pediatrician from a private hospital but the baby was not tested for Lassa virus before she died.

    Dr Chuku explained that it was yet not possible to pinpoint if the baby was the source of the Lassa virus that killed Dr Ndukwu as nobody has manifested any signs of the virus after 21 days incubation period which ended Tuesday starting from the day the baby died.

    He said, “We are not looking at one direction so that you don’t put people’s lives at risk, as medical doctors offer their services across various health facilities and not all hospitals fully observe the standard protocol on disease control, we may not get to know where the deceased doctor contracted the virus”.

    The FMC MD assured that the mangement of the federal health facility has taken every measure to contain the virus, noting that the protocol developed by the NCDC for the containment of Lassa fever was being fully implemented at FMC Umuahia.

    He advised the general public to keep their surroundings clean, ensure that rats do not have access to their food and to report to the nearest health facility whenever they develop fever.

    In his remarks, the health commissioner, Dr Ahukanna said that it was regrettable that Lassa fever has claimed a life in Abia after all efforts to keep the dreaded virus at bay by the state government.

    Ahukanna said that though the apprehension which the outbreak of Lassa fever has created in Abia was understandable, adding that there is no reason to panic as both the state ministry of health and NCDC have taken measures to contain the disease.

    He advised that everyone in Abia should maintain high level of personal and environmental hygiene and also keep rats at bay to ensure that the outbreak of Lassa fever did “not go beyond what we already have.”

  • Ebonyi organises workshop on open governance

    The Ebonyi State government has signed up to open governance, a global practice on transparency and accountability, and organised a workshop to enlighten the public and civil society on it.

    The workshop which lasted for three days was put together to encourage civil society to engage with the government as well as to work out permanent mechanisms for the sustenance of the initiative in the state.

    Speaking during the workshop, the state governor, David Umahi, reiterated the commitment of the administration to leadership modelled on the global best practices.

    This he explained, included embracing the principles of transparency, accountability and responsiveness as yardsticks in government, assuring that the government was ready to truly participate in the global initiative, the Open Government Partnership.

    The governor disclosed that he had to personally sign the letter of intent as a major condition and qualification for entry into the programme. He recalled that the government had been practicing a form of open government by way of town-hall meetings and live airing of the state budget presentation.

    The governor expressed the hope that with the mutual cooperation of both the public sector and the civil society, the state would be elevated to the dream-height of a model sub-national entity, and appealed to the international agencies to support the state.

    He gave the assurance that, “OGP in Ebonyi is a programme matched with implementation”.

    Earlier in her opening speech the OGP state focal person, Mrs. Ugo Nnachi, emphasised that OGP was going to further strengthen determination to embrace the principles of transparency and citizen engagement.

    She then called on international agencies to support the government in the OGP implementation, assuring that government had started aligning the governance processes to the OGP principles.

    Mrs. Nnachi encouraged the civil society to stand to present an agreed, coherent and concrete stance with government in the process of determining and implementation of commitments. She explained that, “the OGP process is about co-creation, co-monitor and co-review”.

    Also addressing participants during the workshop the representative of the Open Government Partnership National Coordinator, Dr. Haruna Abdullahi, said that OGP was a multi-national initiative for the institution of open governance, the aim of which was to enshrine the culture of transparency, accountability and responsiveness.

    Dr. Abdullahi stated further that the process would be through the collaboration of government and members of the civil society organisations in order to secure concrete commitments, promote open governance, empower citizens and fight corruption through new technologies and innovations.

    Relating the history of OGP from inception at the international level in 2011 through the admission of Nigeria in 2016, the National Coordinator’s representative said that the process was being replicated at the sub-national level in Ebonyi and called on participants to tune their minds and understanding to the process as would be made clear in the course of the workshop.

    The three-day workshop was action-packed, with participants from both the public sector and the civil society organization showing high enthusiasm and dedication.

    The programme, which was carefully packaged for the enlightenment of participants, had speakers and resource persons drawn from institutions that were directly or indirectly linked with the business of open government and transparency.

    With separate days allotted for the public sector and civil society participants, instruction materials and topics were carefully chosen to delve deep into the meaning, scope, operation and the structure of the Open Government Partnership.

    The result of the workshop was the identification commitments based on the four thematic areas, and the formulation of the OGP steering committee drawn on equal basis from the state actors and non-state actors.

    It was all the more fulfilling as participants showed clear understanding of the contents of the workshop, and thus, the process of the Open Government Partnership, judging by the quality of questions with which they challenged instructors, and how eagerly the technical sessions were carried on and generally participated in.

    As a parting message, the state focal person enjoined all (citizens, commissioners, technocrats, etc) to rally round to make a success of the OGP process in the state.

    She reiterated that co-creation was key in making OGP work and called for sustained high-level commitment and constructive citizen engagement for enduring reforms to be sustained.

  • Okorocha to probe Oguta blackout

    The Imo State government has promised to probe years of power blackout in oil-rich Oguta, Ohaji/ Egbema local government areas of the state, The Nation has learnt.

    This was made known during a visit to Governor Rochas Okorocha by a delegation of Oguta indigenes led by a House of Representatives member Hon Uzoma Henry Ezediaro (Oguta constituency).

    Speaking at the Government House on behalf of the people, Hon Ezediaro chronicled the suffering of the community in the past five years without electricity and appealed for a solution.

    He said, “We are here to intimate the Governor on the longtime suffering of Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema constituency as regards the issue of electricity in the area of total darkness over the years from EEDC despite the contribution of the LGAs in the revenue of the Imo state.

    “The people want to know why EEDC to has refused to provide light to our communities. On the other hand, we request that oil-producing companies operating in the communities consider citing power sub-station to generate electricity for the people.”

    Responding, Governor Okorocha said the problem will be looked into as soon as possible while immediately instructing the ministry of works to find out the cause of the problem and report back to him, adding that Oguta LGA people cannot be joked with considering the stuff they are made of.

    Members of the delegation included the traditional ruler of Oguta Ameshi HRH Eze Chinedu Nzeribe, Oguta political leaders, clergymen, youths and women groups.

  • Church gets road, 59 years after

    Though the All Saints Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Abakaliki has been in existence for about 59 years, it has always faced a problem of accessibility. The only road leading to it has been in a dilapidated state.

    Successive governments in the state have promised to renovate the road, which is just a femer metre to the Government House in Abakaliki, but all turned out to be mere empty promises.

    But Governor David Umahi during a recent visit to the Church ordered immediate renovation the road.

    The governor also ordered for the asphalting and total landscaping of the entire church premises and proceeded to set aside N53million for the projects.

    The official flag-off of the construction was performed by the governor and assisted by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt Rev Monday Nkwegu.

    Already, drainages at the both sides of the road have been constructed to prevent erosion that has been threatening the area.

    While flagging off the road reconstruction, Governor David Umahi who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Infrastructure maintenance, Ali Odefa said the reconstruction was part of social responsibility of the state government to the people of the state.

    “This is a very dilapidated road, this road has been left unattended to professionally since 1959 when this church moved to this place. What the church have been trying on the road is intervention works where necessary and as soon as those works failed, they also try to patch it.

    “This is what prompted the state government as part of its social responsibility to the people of Ebonyi state to undertake a total reconstruction and asphalting this road. This road is 135meters. From the Ogoja road to the gate, it is 135km and it is sitting on solid concrete and asphalt over lay. We have introduced line drains on both sides so that erosion will not destroy the road.

    “We are extending the asphalting of the church such that the car pot and other areas around the new cathedral will be asphalted and we are also introducing drains there so that we can control erosion there,” Odefa said.

    He noted that the work would be completed within two weeks, adding that the government will also install solar power street light on the road and the church premises free of charge.

    Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Abakaliki, Rev. Monday Nkwegu commended Governor Umahi for the gesture and assured that the church will continue to support his administration.

    Umahi during the occasion donated N3million to widows of the church.

     

  • ‘Our kingdom has no crown prince’

    The Nri kingdom in Anambra State has told its people to desist from claiming the position of crown prince or regent, as nothing like that exists in the area.

    The kingdom warned that anybody parading himself as crown prince or regent will be doing so at their own peril.

    The Chairman of the Nze N’ozo in council, Oba Emelie Okika told The Nation that those claiming such positions were wasting their time.

    He said it was the prerogative of the council to appoint anyone who would oversee the affairs of the kingdom until the monarch  returned from his journey.

    Besides, Oba Okika claimed that the traditional ruler of the kingdom, Eze Obidiegwu Onyeso was not dead but travelled and would return in seven years’ time.

    Okika also told reporters that some of the communities claiming to be the ancestral home of Igbo like Igboukwu and Aguleri should desist from such or incur the wrath of the gods.

    He said it would be ridiculous for Nri kingdom to engage any of such communities in any verbal war, as everybody the world over was aware that neither the position of crown prince nor that of regent was in contention.

    “Our king does not die, he embarked on a journey to return in the next seven years and anyone who prepares to be the king of Nri now will face challenges. The onus is on Oru Nze na Abua in Council to hold brief until he returns. Nobody has been selected and we are now in a quagmire to put our kingdom back on track.”

    There were speculations that Igwe Obidiegwu Onyeso had joined his ancestors, which Oba Okika dismissed as unfounded.

    As a result, some people had started parading themselves as regents, while another person describes himself as crown prince of the kingdom.

    Following the development, there are disagreements in the kingdom among the people, but Oba Okika dismissed such disagreement, saying it is normal in every big community and families.

    The monarch was installed on the throne in 1988 and had to travel, according to the Chairman of Nze n’ozo in the kingdom, Okika, December 2017 to be returned in seven years’ time, according to customs and traditions or Nri kingdom

     

  • ‘My political ambition drove me into cult’

    A fourth-year student of Abia State University Uturu held by police for alleged cult activities has said he joined the Black Axe confraternity because of his future political ambitions.

    Princewill Okechukwu, an indigene of Isiukwuato Local Government Area of Abia State, also told the police he was not apprehended for any cult activity, though he reportedly admitted being the leader of the group.

    Okechukwu was among five suspects that were paraded for suspected cult activities and armed robbery by the Commissioner of Police in the state Mr. Anthony Ogbizi at the Police Officers Mess in Umuahia, the state capital.

    The 22-year-old final year student of Political Science reportedly confessed being the leader of the Black Axe confraternity in the institution, but also claimed that his enemies who were interested in his position betrayed him by reporting him to the police.

    He said, “I wasn’t caught in any cult activity, rather I was arrested because I’m the head of the Black Axe fraternity.

    “I joined the cult because I have an ambition to join politics after studies; I was told that there were great men that graduated from our school who are in government and they can help one to succeed in politics if one is a strong man”.

    Okechukwu who said he has been a member of the cult for one year, regretted that he has not benefited anything from it, adding that he will not go back to cultism if he regains his freedom.

    “I have not benefited anything from the cult since I joined. The position I occupy was just handed over to me not long ago, and it was the people that wanted my position that betrayed me,” he said.

    A female suspect arrested among the cultists identified only as Chika also denied being a member of the Vikings confraternity. She said she was waiting for someone before she was arrested.

    A police source said Chika was arrested close to the scene where the Vikings were initiating new members and that she was playing the role of an informant for the cultists. The source added that some substance suspected to be Indian hemp which she was allegedly holding for her boyfriend, a member of the Vikings now at large, was found on her.

    One of the suspects, who claimed to be a Lagos-based trader, said he visited his girlfriend on campus the day police operatives raided his friend’s hostel in search of the cultists.

    He said, “I’m based in Lagos where I deal in unisex clothes. My mother called and informed me that she was sick; when I came to see her, I decided to travel to my maternal home in Uturu to seek assistance from my uncles there in order to treat my mother. When I got to the village I decided to visit my girlfriend that I met on Facebook. I never had in mind that a secret cult initiation was going on in her lodge that was how I was arrested when the police arrived.

    Another suspect identified as Osigwe Tochukwu who was arrested for allegedly robbing other students in his hostel at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike denied the act.

    He said he had denounced cultism, adding that he was a victim of circumstance as he was arrested because a gun was found in the room where he was staying with his friends.

    “I was arrested because I was accused of armed robbery. I was a cultist in the past but I had denounced my membership, but I was set up by someone who said he wants to denounce cultism. The gun was found in one of the three different rooms where I sleep. It belongs to one boy that came to spend some time with us.

    “I thought he was a student but after Police investigation, I found out that he was not a student. The gun belongs to him, he kept it in one of the rooms where I used to sleep, when security came to the room, they found the gun in the room that was how I was arrested, but I didn’t sleep in that room that night. The boy himself ran away from the back.

    The CP said Okechukwu and other suspects in the police and those at large would be charged to court after police investigation.