Group cautions Benue deputy speaker against media attacks on Ado council chairman,
The Ado Descendants Union has cautioned the deputy speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Lami Danladi over her “unnecessary” media attacks on the chairman of Ado Local Government, Mr. Sunday Oche.
The group made this caution in a press statement signed and made available to journalists by its President, Mr. John Onazi.
The group in the statement also alerted the Governor of Benue State, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia over plan by Mrs Lami Danladi Ogenyi to use five media influencers in the state to attack the chairman of Ado Local Government, Engineer Oche Sunday Oche.
The group accused the deputy speaker of engaging six Social media influencers namely, Attah Ede, Elder Edwin Zege Orkwande, Adai Unogwu Samson, Dan-Morgan Ihomu, Samson Otokpa and Igwe Cletus to attack the local government chairman on their various Social Media platforms.
“Information available to us showed that the deputy speaker, Rt. Hon. Lami Danladi Ogenyi has ignited another crisis in Ado Local Government despite efforts by elders and the council chairman to sustain relative peace.
“According to our intel, Mrs Danladi has recruited six Social media influencers to attack sons and daughters of the State who are in public offices. We have it on a good authority that Mrs Danladi who was in company of her personal assistant, Mrs Oyikowoicho Elizabeth met with these social media influencers at Doo Palace Hotel in Makurdi two days ago.
“At the meeting, Madam Deputy speaker promised to pay each of the six propagandists a sum of N250,000.00 totaling N1.5m even when she has not done anything meaningful in terms of projects in her Constituency for over two years that she has been at the House of Assembly.
“Apart from the financial gratification, Mrs Danladi also promised to get them slots as external consultants at the Benue Internal Revenue Service, BIRS once they complete the assignment successfully. We have also found out that the leader of the team, One Edwin Zege Orkwande was a consultant with the BIRS during the time of Mrs Mimi Orubibi as the executive chairman of the State tax agency.
“To prevent members of the public from suspecting that their main target is the chairman of Ado local government who she has been fighting for over six months, Mrs Danladi told the Social media influencers to operate under the guise of publishing activities, non performance and achievements of all the twenty three local government chairmen in the state.
“She also strategically instructed them to start with Kwande and Guma local government chairmen , and then descend heavily on Engineer Oche Sunday Oche after some days just to avoid suspicion from the public.
“These young men whom she has hired to attack the chairman of Ado Local Government on the social media are now hiding under the pretense of showcasing the achievements of all the twenty three local government chairmen across the state” the group said.
The Ado Descendants Union stated further that the activities of the six media influencers led by Edwin Zege Orkwande is fully sponsored by the deputy speaker with an aim to later use them to downplay the achievements of her council chairman.
The statement reads in parts: “The game is to mislead and misinform the general public with their planned social media propaganda that Engineer Oche Sunday isn’t performing up to expectations. They have been given a script by the deputy speaker to act but, we are calling on the state governor, His Excellency, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia and members of the public that whatever the paid social media influencers write about Engineer Oche is a script by Mrs Danladi and should be disregarded. Apart from Oche, they also have a plan to attack the governor and his cabinet members on the social media in the coming days on the directive of the deputy speaker.
“We are also calling on members of the public to kindly take a tour to Ado Local Government to see for themselves, all the good things which Mr. Sunday Oche has done and that he is still doing to take Governance to the doors of common men in Ado..
“How can they plan to mislead the public that he hasn’t performed when he has actually delivered in the areas of infrastructures, security and several other areas of governance. We are on ground and we can attest to the fact that the chairman is delivering dividends of democracy in the local government”
Recall that Mrs Danladi as part of her efforts to fight Engineer Oche to standstill had earlier written a petition through her accomplices, Mrs Nkechi Okafor with a claim that the chairman was operating an illegal detention cell in Obioye area of Ado Local Government.
On receiving the petition, the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun ordered the Office of the AIG Zone 4 in Makurdi to investigate and the led to the arrest of three traditional chiefs in the area.
But after a thorough investigation by the Special IGP Team led by CSP Mannase Orhena which found nothing incriminating against the chairman and the detained three chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police ordered for the immediate release of Chiefs Isaac Ebilima, Igwe Linus and Daniel Nweze.
During their fact-finding mission, the O/C Crime of the AIG office in Zone 4, CSP Mannase Orhena who led the IGP Special Team from Abuja to Ado Local Government was told by residents of the community that there was no illegal detention cell in any part of Obioye area of the local government.
During the field investigation few Sundays ago, the IGP Special Team was told by residents that the place where the petitioners claimed to be an illegal detention cell contains an open market square and a Catholic Church where people are buying, selling and worshipping without fears.
Recall that the people of Obioye had two moths ago stated that both Ezza and Effium had been at war for over seven years, adding that Nkechi Okafor who used to be their president-general was always collecting money from them to procure arms and ammunition to fight the other community. “Nkechi, at a point went and built a mansion in Abuja and started living as a big woman. It’s on record that she has been sharing these funds with the deputy speaker” they noted.
They pressed further that: “But now that the current chairman, Sunday Oche, has come, he has been able to return peace to both communities and as a result of that, our elders no longer donate money for Nkechi Okafor to get them arms and ammunition. She at some points threatened them but the elders said no, that they weren’t ready to go into another war again, and this angered her.
“They even told her that the local government chairman with the supports of Governor Hyacinth Alia had returned peace and also that they had returned back from the IDPs in Igumale to their ancestral homes so they didn’t want her help them on arms and ammunition again. This actually stopped her and Lami Danladi from getting money from the community to share as they used to do, and this angered the deputy speaker who vowed to remove the chairman at all cost.
“According to our elders in Ezza community, Nkechi Okafor had led them into many wars with Effium just because she wanted to be collecting huge millions of Naira from them under the guise of helping them to procure arms and ammunition but they have stopped the donations since the current chairman had returned peace back to the two warring communities”