January 26, (THEWILL) – The Gubernatorial Campaign headquarters of one of the governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue state, Professor Terhemba Shija, on Wednesday, came under threats of attacks from unknown persons.
The threats were alleged to have come to two Directors of the campaign organisation via telephone calls from two unlisted numbers, saying the office headquarters will be attacked and burnt down and the staff dealt with.
One of the voices, which spoke to a Director in the organisations, said Prof. Shija is standing in Benue people’s way. “He’ll soon see after we burn down that ‘una yeye office’,
una go know.”
It can be recalled that Prof. Shija and his staff have been facing verbal attacks and other forms of harassment since the APC primary, in which he contested. Several critics verbally attacked Shija, blaming him for being responsible for the failure of their preferred aspirant to pick the APC Gubernatorial ticket.
A statement signed by Samuel Adzegeh, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to Prof. Shija, recalled that a youth leader in the party was arrested and detained by security forces a few months ago for openly bragging in Abuja that Shija and others, who opposed their preferred choice would have their residential houses burnt down.
According to Mr Adzegeh, the said youth leader was subsequently picked up and questioned and is still under watch by security agencies in the State.
“Shortly after this incident, the Shija Gubernatorial Campaign office located near railway by-pass, High Level Makurdi, Benue state, was attacked. Most campaign flags at the facility were destroyed and glass louvres at the office shattered during a windstorm around midnight. The incident was officially reported to the police which promised to investigate the incident.”
The latest threat of attack comes days after Prof. Shija, won a landslide victory, where the Appeal Court, sitting in Makurdi, nullified the results of elections in eleven out of twenty-three local governments in the State and ordered re-runs in the affected local government areas, in which it ruled that elections had validly held since INEC, in its report, held that it had duly supervised the second primary elections.
“In its official reaction, the Prof. Shija Campaign Organisation said it had already approached the Supreme Court to protest the decision of the Appeal Court.”
The campaign organisation which is seeking the understanding of the Benue public, explained that it was before the Apex Court because, the judgement of the Appeal Court threw up certain legal issues that can only be resolved by the highest court in the land.
Prof. Shija, who spoke on the matter, said he was aware of the situation and was not amazed at the scare tactics of those he described as “little minds.”
He assured his teeming supporters of their safety, disclosing that he has already briefed some security agencies about the development, emphasising that as members of the Benue society and free citizens of Nigeria, they could not be intimidated by anybody or group.
Similarly, the same court dismissed the case filed by one of the governorship aspirants, Engr Barnabas Gemade, for being status bar, even as he challenged the suit to the Supreme Court.
About the Author
