Ebonyi PDP Spokesman Tortured, ‘Stripped’ By Ebubeagu Considers Legal Action

The director, media and publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ebonyi State, Dr. Abia Onyike, says he is considering legal action against Ebubeagu security network after the local security operative tortured him last Wednesday. Ebubeagu is a creation of the Ebonyi State government to work in synergy with conventional security agencies to ensure law and order in the state.
Onyike, a journalist, told Radio Nigeria on Monday that, “I am consulting my lawyer, and will most likely take a legal action.”

According to him, “On Wednesday, at about 8:15 pm, I went to buy drugs at a pharmacy along Water Works Road in Abakaliki. After the purchase, two armed members of Ebubeagu accosted me and dragged me into their vehicle. They drove me to the Old Government House in Abakaliki. They took me to their torture camp, which used to be the office of the Secretary to the State Government.

“They descended on me; started beating me. After about one and a half hours of torture, their commander asked me to stand up. They had already stripped me naked. I was wearing only boxers. I did. Then I waited over an hour, then their big man came and told me ‘sorry’; that it was a case of mistaken identity, and that they want to take me back home.”

Onyike claimed that the torture was orchestrated by his running battles with Gov Dave Umahi. In his words, “I have had running battles with Gov David Umahi because of my writings aimed at good governance. He wants to win his election at all costs. There is fear ahead of the 2023 general elections, and I advise the political class that ‘resorting to violence will not do anybody any good.

Uchenna Orji, Ebonyi State commissioner for information, however, debunked Onyike’s claims, describing them as ‘abstract’. Orji said, “Such accusations are unfounded, irresponsible, malicious, and concocted just to paint a bad image about the state government which is working assiduously to ensure the security of our people. Ebubeagu has done a lot to ensure security in our state. You don’t hear about kidnapping, abduction and banditry in Ebonyi State.

“There is orderliness. People discuss not the developmental strides in Ebonyi State; they rather discuss abstract things. There is no tension in Ebonyi State. It is fabricated. If what they are claiming is genuine, there would have been mass movement in the state, but have you heard anything of such? The people of Ebonyi State have gone beyond that.”