Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State on Tuesday declared
Linus Okorie, a former two-time member of the House of Representatives, wanted
over an inciting Facebook publication.
Okorie represented Ohanivo Federal Constituency at the
House.
Umahi accused Okorie of allegedly making inciting statements
on his Facebook page which heated up the polity particularly in the Ikwo Local
Government Area of the state.
The governor further said that the former lawmaker’s social
media post contributed to the beheading of an Ebubeagu operative in the local
government area two weeks ago.
Okore is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
and a known critic of the state government.
The governor made this known while briefing journalists
through the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Commissioner of
Information and State Orientation, Uchenna Orji and Mr Cletus Ofoke, shortly
after a security meeting that took place at the New Government House, Centenary
City, Abakaliki.
According to him: “Council considered a report presented to
it by security agencies on the beheading of an Ebubeagu official in Ikwo local
government area on 9th of January 2022.
“The council noted the report on the issues and the
revelation contained on that report, and therefore resolved to declare wanted,
one Hon Linus Okorie for the publication of an inciting statements, some of
which were posted on Facebook that were traced to be part of the inflammatory
publications that really invited that very tension that led to the beheading of
the Ebubeagu official,” he stated.
The governor however urged security agencies to expedite
action on the investigation with a view to bringing all those involved to face
the law.
In a swift reaction, Okorie petitioned international
communities to come to his rescue, stressing that his life is now in danger.
He said: “I wish to alert the world that this is another of
the artful schemes of Governor Umahi to silence all opposition voices in Ebonyi
state by criminalizing it’s high profile leaders, use Ebubeagu to kill me on
the excuse that I was evading arrest and also a veiled excuse to close down
CitiHub event centre which has long been the desire of the governor and his close
Aides and family members.
“It is also a ploy to distract attention from the Carnage
that Ebubeagu has been wrecking on the people of Ebonyi state as symbolized by
the riots and killings in Akaeze in the past few days. Governor Umahi is simply
looking for a high profile scapegoat to take attention away from the many lives
being lost to Ebubeagu operatives across the state; and he has chosen me using
his State Security Council.
“If, indeed, such a decision was arrived at by the Security
Council, one would doubt that the police and other security agencies were
represented at such a meeting. This is because it is the duty of the Nigerian
Police to investigate crimes and invite all named suspects for interrogation
and even when a suspect fails to honor an invitation, there is a clear
procedure that must be followed before such a person can be declared wanted by
the police and not any security council meeting.
“Let it be known that I have never been invited to answer to
any allegations by the Nigerian Police or other security agencies anywhere in
Nigeria.”
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