Enugu: Youth Group Blows Hot Over The Arrest Of A Popular Activist By A Senator

PRESS STATEMENT OF THE PATRIOTIC NIGERIAN YOUTHS AGAINST CORRUPTION AND SOCIAL INJUSTICE ON THE ABDUCTION/ARREST OF COMRADE EZEAGU THOMAS BY THE SENATOR REPRESENTING ENUGU NORTH SENATORIAL ZONE, SENATOR CHUKWUKA UTAZI.

Comrade Ezeagu Thomas is a social activist who has consistently brought positive changes to his immediate community through his writings on the Media. He recently engaged the senator representing him for poor representation and what he called a fraudulent empowerment program where he alleged that the senator collected money from poor constituents for a particular empowerment program and failed to later carry it out. Ezeagu Thomas dared the senator and vowed to release the list of the victims of this scam. It was at this stage that the Senator sent a text message to the comrade inviting him for clarifications on the 30th of August. On reaching the venue of the meeting on the 1st of September, the senator sent his thugs to pick Comrade Ezeagu Thomas who had before now written of a threat to his life by the senator and his hired killers. Ezeagu was held for over 20hrs without anybody hearing from him or knowing his whereabouts. It was when the senator started receiving calls from prominent personalities and fellow comrades at arms that he yielded and released a shambolic report on how he arrested Ezaegu Thomas for God knows what offence and transfered him to the anti-kidnapping unit of the Enugu police command.

Despite this false claims by the senator and his evil handlers, Comr Ezeagu Thomas has not being heard from since the date of the purported arrest till now 6th September. Not even his father who is a retired senior police officer who went there on the 3rd of September and stayed at the unit from 10am of that day till 6pm was allowed to see his son. The aged father was subjected to that psychological and physical torture by the junior officers at the custody just because he demanded to at least see his son who has as at then being in the said unit for over 72hrs in without being seen or heard from. The lawyers who went there were also vigorously ignored and treated with scorn in clear breach of his fundamental rights as entrenched in the section 35 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic. We pray that the compellable report from a source who should be in the know about their initial plan and which has it that it was a deadly armed robbers who the senator is alleged to have previously used to rig election and maim people that were sent to torture and maim the revered Comr to death so as to prevent him from exposing the scam the senator is said to have been strongly linked with and to curtail him from being in circulation so as to have a smooth ride to power in 2019 should be taken with a pinch of the salt. The report also has it that Ezeagu was seriously brutalised and nearly killed right in the torture room of the senator and when it became clear that people would revolt, they quickly bribed some officers to accept that Comr Ezeagu is in their custody so they would buy more time to enable them transfer him to a secluded hospital in Anambra state where they will treat the bruises and serious injuries he sustained from their brutality.
The patriotic Nigerian youths regrets that such a barbaric action is coming from a PDP senator, a first timer, a lawyer and the senate committee chairman on corruption. Well meaning Nigerians are in the know that the freedom of press and expression not excluding that of free speech are very pertinent to our democracy to keep the government on it’s toes. We also strongly condemn any form of intolerance to opposition voice, any action to muzzle opposition voices, use instrumentalities of physical power and money to intimidate and probably shut dissenting voices. Whatever offence(s) Thomas has committed, his inalienable rights ought to have being carefully respected and for over five days now he should have been allowed access to his lawyers and family members if only the rascal of a senator who reminds Nigerians of the evil days of Mobutu Sese Seko of DR Congo has not done the worst (assassinated him).
We urge the peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is already winning the sympathy of the youths in the build up to the 2019 general elections to immediately renounce the senator and prevail on him to as a matter of urgency, unconditionally release the victim of the Senator’s highhandedness else the party will be subjected to public odium and massively ignored by the Nigerian youths as the writer cum activist enjoys a very prominent position in the rank of the youths with a cult-like supporters both nationally and internationally being a member of the Arise all African Youths, Africa And Sons Movement, Coalition of Nigerian student and youths, a prominent pioneer member of the Online media practitioners association of Nigeria (OMPAN) as well as the national secretary of patriotic Nigerian youths Against Corruption And Social Injustice.
We have also concluded plans to petition the ethics and privileges committee of the Nigerian senate and demand that the dictator of a senator is removed as the chairman of Senate committee on corruption as it is a slap on our anti-corruption crusade to have the most corrupt Nigerian occupy such a sacred position.
We are also giving the said senator Utazi 24hrs to unconditionally release Comrade Ezeagu Thomas, allow him access to lawyers and family members or arraign him before a court of competent jurisdiction or our group will liaise with other youth-based organizations and well meaning Nigerians to organize a mass protest to the Nigerian Human right commission’s headquarters in Abuja, the Wadata plaza office of his party, the national assembly and as well immediately liaise with the Uzo-Uwani Youth Movement (Local government of the senator and Thomas) to immediately set the machinery in motion for his recall.
The constituents enjoyed freedom before they voted him but he has rewarded them with captivity instead of quality representation.
The national legal adviser of our group, Bar Isah Bagudu has also being detailed to immediately engage the services of Bar Festus Kenyamo SAN to initiate a fundamental rights enforcement procedure suits and press for his unconditional release.
Nobody, not even the president of the federal republic can derogate a citizen’s fundamental human right in such manner with brazen impunity. We wish to also remind the senator and handlers that Nigerian is still practising constitutional democracy just as we wish to mobilise his constituents to ensure that this becomes the end of his political career and the senator does not belong to this era.
We finally urge every Nigerian youths and lovers of our nascent democracy all over the world to send messages to the senator’s number(08037726187) with the hasstag #freeEzeaguThomas let us give him no rest as it is written in the bible that there will be no rest for the wicked. He must not sleep with his two eyes closed while an innocent Comr who stood for the victims of he constantly referred to as fraud languishes in detention for trumped up charges.
Thanks for your time. Let us defend our democracy and get our voters card to vote against Sen. Utazi and other enemies of our democracy
Comr Okpe Sylvanus
National publicity secretary of patriotic Nigerian youths against corruption and social injustice