LP candidate’s murder: Enugu back to dark days – Edeoga

The Labour Party governorship candidate in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga has described the murder of the party’s senatorial candidate for Enugu East, Barr. Oyibo Chukwu as most devastating.

Edeoga spoke at the Enugu residence of the deceased during a condolence visit, lamenting that the Coal City was back to the dark days.

He said: “It is most gruesome, most painful, most traumatic, the termination of the life of an ebullient spirit; the life of a patriotic, the life of a statesman; he has served Nigeria; he was in the Constituent Assembly. He has served Nigeria on various platforms as ANPP chieftain, as Labour Party chieftain, as legal luminary, community leader.

“The nomination for the Labour Party ticket was supposed to be an endorsement of all that he has done, but when he was on the course for victory, just on a final lap, he was terminated most abruptly and in a most painful way.”

He said it was saddening that the late senatorial candidate was killed “in a manner that recalls the days we thought we had left behind, in a manner that recalls the tragic past that we prayed, hoped that we had left behind us, a sad and tragic reminder of the days gone by that we prayed and thanked Sullivan Chime for putting behind; now, we are back there; the days of murder and mayhem and unaccountable and unnecessary waste of precious human lives.”

Edeoga said he could not understand why someone could just terminate people’s lives and nothing happens.

He stressed that even if there was a political angle to the assassination, “those people should not benefit from it; we have got the INEC to postpone the election.”

He said the notion that Enugu is a peaceful state was not true, recalling that a former Chairman of Oji River was equally killed in the same gruesome manner.

Also, at the late Chukwu’s residence was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and ex-guber aspirant, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa.

While describing the incident as shocking, Ohaa said, “we are saddened and that is why I am here to commiserate with the family.”