THE PUNCH
A former member of the Labour Party, Col. Chinyere Obi (retd.), shares with DANIEL AYANTOYE how she was shot by suspected political thugs and allegedly abandoned by the party
You sustained a gunshot wound during the general elections. How did it happen?
It was a painful experience. I was a Peter Obi supporter. I made a lot of sacrifices during the electioneering but was abandoned after the attack while defending the Labour Party at my pollingunit. I was in my village in the Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State to participate in the election. On the day of the House of Assembly election, I went to cast my vote at my polling unit, Ward 1.
Somehow, I noticed that something was wrong; when anyone wanted to vote for the Labour Party, one of the INEC officials on the ground would take his hand and ensure that the person voted for the APC. So, I told them to allow people to vote freely. Later, some thugs started beating the LP agent there and I intervened. A guy then approached me and said they had been observing me in the community. He said they saw how I gave rice to people and that I was busy promoting the LP. I didn’t know when he brought out a gun from his bag and shot at my leg. When I recovered, I went to the police station.
What did the security men at the polling unit do when you were shot?
There was no police officer there. I asked the chairman of the local government council why he came to the polling unit without security personnel.
What was the reaction of the state government on the matter?
Nothing; it was when I went to the State CID that they arrested the boy but released him later. So, I went ahead to petition the AIG at Umuahia Police Headquarters, Zone 9.
You said you made some sacrifices during the campaign. What were some of the things you did?
During the first flag-off at Lafia (Nasarawa State), I contributed and shared food to the people who came for the programme. After the flag-off, I invited the Arewa group from the 19 northern states for mobilisation and encouraged them on the need to work effectively for Peter Obi and the party at large. I gave them food and transport fares without any support from the LP chairman. At the grassroots, I bought 200 bags of rice, noodles, bags, and customised shirts as well as other items which were distributed. The painful part is that none of the people came to sympathise with me when I was shot. I don’t know the kind of human beings people are. I sold all my property to campaign for Peter Obi. I know if it was Tinubu, I would not be suffering like this. He would have sent for me.
I challenge them; nobody in the LP did up to what I did for Obi. Not even the National Chairman, Julius Abure. I was busy borrowing money and selling some of my properties, but all he (Abure) was doing was collecting money. Take for example, how can you collect N25m each from 15 persons in Imo State for the same governorship ticket and he didn’t screen anyone out? Who does that?
How did you get treated?
After I was shot and reported to the police, I went to the Owerri Health Centre.
