Amobi Ujar, a supporter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Ebonyi State, was allegedly beaten to a pulp by Ebubeagu members on Saturday after being apprehended.
Ujar was charged with destroying the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign materials.
Mr. Friday Nnanna-Ujor, the State Commander of the security organization, commented on the claims of brutality and asserted that Ujar had not been set up by his officers.
He claimed that the suspect was detained after committing the heinous deed in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
He said:
“Don’t call it an attack, because an attack is war-like. But, the truth of the matter is that the suspect, who is an APGA supporter in Afikpo North, was caught vandalizing campaign banners and destroying billboards of APC candidates and so, my men arrested him.
“Nobody is framing anybody up as far as the issue of campaign billboards is concerned in Ebonyi, people will destroy campaign materials in the state and allege that APC members are responsible.
“Even in meetings, Gov. Dave Umahi has severally said that nobody should touch any campaign materials of any candidate despite party affiliations and so, we strictly keep to that instruction. And, even in this state, we have severally caught PDP members tearing billboards of PDP candidates.
“This is just to let you know that we are non-partisan and that we do our job without being biased; so, the boy was arrested for committing a crime.
“He was not framed up: he was not forced to confess, he was not attacked, he was arrested for committing a crime.
“Once we are done with our preliminary investigation, we will hand him over to the police for further investigation and arraignment in court for prosecution.”
A relative of the suspect, who talked to newsmen, claimed that Ujar was enticed to the “Why to Worry” section of Amaehara village in the Afikpo North after receiving a call from an Ebubeagu informant.
The relative stated that Umahi’s campaign banner was placed around Ujar’s neck as he was being beaten into a coma by members of the group, who also had him submit a “confessional statement” against himself and the APGA.
According to the source, the victim, an auto technician, believed he was invited to “Why to Worry” to service a broken down car for some tourists without realizing he had been enticed there to be beaten.
“Ujar is just a victim of circumstance. He was in his house when someone called him and asked him to come to ‘Why Worry’ and all of a sudden, the Ebebeagu people bounced on him and started beating him.
“If not for the presence of passersby, maybe they could have even killed him.
“He was beaten and forced to say he was working for the APGA to pull down all the campaign materials of APC candidates, in the area.
“But, we know these are all lies. He didn’t do anything. Some sponsored APC agents are the ones pulling down campaign materials of other opposition politicians in the area and the entire state,” the source claimed.
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