The campaign convoy of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for Ezza South State Constituency in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Barr. Rollins Offia Nwali, has reportedly come under armed attack at two separate locations in Amaezekwe Community, Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, leaving one person feared dead and several others injured.
The attackers, suspected to be political thugs, were also said to have torched a 2024 Toyota Hilux vehicle belonging to the campaign convoy. Preliminary accounts said that trouble began when Nwali, who was scheduled to meet with his polling unit canvassers, received information that some government officials, allegedly accompanied by armed hoodlums, had stormed the meeting venue.
The officials reportedly warned that they had received orders from above to prevent opposition candidates from holding campaign activities during the swearing-in ceremonies of local government chairmen in the state. Sensing danger, Nwali reportedly directed his convoy to turn back a few metres from the venue.
However, suspected political thugs riding motorcycles and tricycles allegedly opened fire on the convoy, resulting in an exchange of gunfire involving security personnel, including operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) attached to the candidate.
About five persons reportedly sustained gunshot injuries, while one person was feared killed during the confrontation. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.
In another attack a few metres away, a separate group of suspected hoodlums, reportedly operating in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and tricycles, allegedly intercepted the retreating convoy, opened fire and set one of its Toyota Hilux vehicles ablaze. A state government appointee was accused of leading the second group of attackers.
Commenting on the incidents, Chairman of the Ebonyi Democratic Movement, Chief Emmanuel Igwe Chidi, condemned the violent incidents and accused the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police of failing to address what he described as recurring political violence against opposition figures in the state.
Igwe claimed that the failure of the police to prosecute individuals previously implicated in electoral violence, despite several petitions submitted to the state command and the Inspector-General of Police, had emboldened suspected political thugs.
He recalled that the Movement had earlier organised a nationwide protest over alleged persecution of opposition members and the deteriorating security situation in Ebonyi State.
The EBM chairman consequently called on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately redeploy the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police, arguing that the measure had become necessary to restore public confidence in the neutrality of the police ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He also demanded a comprehensive investigation into the Amaezekwe attacks, insisting that all those found culpable must be identified and prosecuted irrespective of their political affiliations or positions in government.
Igwe further urged security agencies to guarantee adequate protection for opposition candidates and their supporters, stressing that no government official or political interest has the authority to prevent citizens from exercising their constitutional rights to political participation.
He warned that democracy would be endangered if political competition was allowed to degenerate into intimidation, gunfire and destruction of property rather than being determined through the ballot box.
The allegations against government officials and the police, as well as the circumstances surrounding the reported death, remain unverified. The accounts provided did not include responses from the Ebonyi State Government or the Police Command.
