Anambra State Governor Peter Obi;
leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the All Progressives Grand
Alliance, APGA, yesterday, traded blames over last Saturday’s stampede at the
Holy Ghost Adoration Ground at Uke in Idemili North Local Government Area of
Anambra State in which about 28 people died.
While APC gubernatorial candidate,
Senator Chris Ngige and the party’s interim National Publicity Secretary,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed blamed Obi for the tragedy, the Anambra State Governor and
APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, said Ngige is responsible and should
be arrested.
This came as the Anambra State
government, yesterday, declared three days of mourning for those who died in
the incident. In a broadcast in Awka, yesterday, Governor Peter Obi also said
that he would set up a panel of inquiry to unearth the immediate and remote
causes of the tragedy.
The governor, who sympathized with
families of the deceased and injured, also directed security agencies to ensure
that the culprits were brought to book.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Onitsha,
Most Reverend Valerian Okeke, yesterday, said the stampede was reportedly
caused by a false alarm raised by somebody in the crowd along one of the narrow
roads out of the town.
APGA Candidate, Chief Willie Obiano
condoled with the bereaved families and urged politicians to shun politics of
bitterness.
Looking depressed and worried over
the tragedy, Obi explained how he was being interrupted when the priest invited
him to speak to the congregation.
Wondering why the APC governorship
candidate should turn a holy ground into a campaign arena, Obi said that as he
stood to speak, some group of people waving brooms and Senator Chris Ngige’s
posters started singing Ngige’s name.
Obi’s broadcast read: “With a deep
sense of sorrow and sadness, I address you today on the tragedy which befell us
yesterday (Saturday) at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Idemili North
Local Government Area of Anambra State leading to the death of over 20 persons.
“My heart goes out to the immediate
families of the deceased, the presiding priest, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obinma, the
Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha and indeed all Anambrarians. I assure you that
the Anambra State government in its usual manner will give you all the needed
support to comfort you at this painful period.
“It is, however, necessary to state
what happened at the vigil at Uke. The host of the Ministry, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel
Obinma had personally delivered a written invitation to me, requesting that I
attend the All Saints night prayers (November 1, 2013 being All Saints Day).
“In my characteristic manner, I
honoured that invitation, arriving the venue at about 10:00 pm when the Mass
started with no more than 10 persons including my elder sister, Rev. Sr.
Martina Obi, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh and others as
well as less than half of my security details.
“It is worth-mentioning that when I
was called upon by the Priest to speak as the governor of the state at about 12
midnight when the Mass ended, a group of people located in three different
spots started chanting Ngige slogans and waving the brooms of All Progressives
Congress and the pictures of Dr. Chris Ngige, the APC’s flag bearer in the
November 16 Governorship election. It took up to 20 minutes for the priest to
calm them down.
“I was surprised that some people
would turn a prayer ground into a campaign venue. In my remarks, which lasted
no more than five minutes, I promised to sponsor 20 indigent people from among
the faithful on pilgrimage, provide access road to the premises and urged all
present to pray for Anambra State and Nigeria. The Presiding priest and all
present can testify to this, and it is on tape.
“I left the Adoration premises at
about 3:00am on Saturday with the persons who came with me and arrived at my
Lodge at 3:30 am only to be told after my broadcast, later in the morning where
I renamed the Anambra State University (ANSU) to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
University that a stampede occurred at the place where I had left three hours
previously. I quickly cancelled all my engagements on Saturday and Sunday and
started visiting relevant places to get first-hand information on the tragedy.
“I appeal to the good people of our
dear state to remain calm and prayerful as God who has been with us all this
while, will help us to overcome the present sad development so that we can
continue the task of turning around our state.
“I have directed all security
agencies to do everything possible to unearth the cause of this mayhem. A panel
of inquiry will soon be constituted to investigate what happened. Finally, I
have declared three days of mourning starting from yesterday in honour of our
departed ones.”
Governor Obi is culpable – APC, Ngige
Reacting to the development, the APC
said that Governor Obi should be held responsible for the tragedy for allegedly
turning a house of prayer into a house of politics.
In a statement issued in Lagos,
yesterday, by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
the party said had Governor Obi and the APGA Governorship Candidate, Willie
Obiano, not gone to the praying ground “to engage in wrongful politicking,” the
innocent souls who died at the vigil would be alive today.
Praying that God will grant repose to
the souls of the departed and wishing all those injured a speedy recovery and
the families of the victims the fortitude to bear their losses, it said while
there is nothing wrong in a State Governor going to a vigil, such visit should
not be impromptu in order for the organizers to make the necessary security
arrangements, and it should also not be a licence to engage in political
campaign.
APC condemned the plan by Governor
Obi to set up a panel to investigate the stampede, considering that “the
Governor himself is at the centre of the whole tragedy.
“Setting up a panel to investigate
the cause of the stampede will amount to seeking to be a judge in your own
case. The only cause of the stampede is the Governor’s ill-advised visit to the
vigil. Information at our disposal has it that the stampede was triggered
by the Governor’s overzealous security details who manhandled congregants as
their principal was exiting the venue of the vigil.
The security details were said to
have been irked by the murmurs of disapproval that greeted the Governor’s
attempt to campaign for his candidate, Mr. Obiano.
In like manner, Ngige, yesterday,
advised Governor Obi to take responsibility for the stampede.
Noting that he was not ready to play
politics with the lives of Anambra people, Ngige urged Obi to explain to the
people of the state why he sneaked into an all night vigil with the full
campaign machinery of the APGA governorship candidate.
Ngige observed that Gov. Obi’s
statement on Channels Television that: ‘I was trying to speak to the
crowd and they were calling a particular name and, we have to find a way to
stop that’ clearly indicates that the security aides must have aggravated the
worshippers, which eventually led to the stampede.
Ngige whose reaction was contained in
a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the Chris Ngige Campaign
Organisation, Chief Charles Amilo, noted that “Senator Ngige neither attended
the crusade nor knew nothing about it nor received the report of the incident
at the crusade in good time.
If Ndi Anambra who are not
necessarily politicians spontaneously rejected Governor Obi and his handpicked
stooge during the night vigil, considering that Obi and his APGA team in
uniform barged into their communion with God with fliers and sirens, and tear
gas, why should Obi now blame Ngige?
Ngige therefore invited Gov Obi
to rise to the responsibility of Governance in the remaining part of his tenure
by promptly explaining to Ndi Anambra what his security details were reported
to have done to create a stampede in the place of worship, as further
obfuscation of facts from his government may build avoidable tension’
Tags
Politics