About seven gunmen were said to have stormed the venue of the meeting on motorcycles. They shot sporadically, causing the party members to flee and scamper for safety.
Yesterday (Sunday), some gunmen attacked the Labour Party (LP) members who were having a meeting at Umuida, Ozzi ward 7, in Igbo-Eze North Local Government, Enugu State.
About seven gunmen were said to have stormed the venue of the meeting on motorcycles. They shot sporadically, causing the party members to flee and scamper for safety.
In Enugu, Gunmen Disrupt Labour Party Meeting, Burn Vehicles, Motorcycles
They allegedly made away with one vehicle, three motorcycles, mobile phones, drinks, party record books, and some other documents, while one motorcycle and two vehicles were burnt to ashes by the hoodlums.
The ward Chairman of Ozzi ward 7 of the party in Umuida, Mr. Attah Chinedu, who confirmed the attack, said the incident happened around 5:15 pm, adding that no life was lost. Some members sustained minor injuries while running away from the attackers.
According to Mr. Attah, around 5:15 pm on Sunday, while they were about rounding up the monthly party ward meeting at Central School Umuida, about seven armed men stormed the venue of the meeting with their motorcycles in a commando way. They started firing their guns in the air to disrupt the meeting.
While they took to their heels, the armed men set one Toyota Corolla and one new motorcycle ablaze, made away with three other motorcycles and a Toyota Camry car (2.2).
They collected some members' mobile phones left on the table. They also packed drinks and registers and left.
Later, they abandoned the Toyota Camry car (2.2) and set it ablaze along the road on their way back; fortunately, no life was lost during the attack.
In Enugu, Gunmen Disrupt Labour Party Meeting, Burn Vehicles, Motorcycles
The ward Chairman also said that the hoodlums made away with another Toyota Camry that belongs to the party's local government vice chairman. He was on official visitation to the ward when the incident happened, adding that the incident had been reported to the police.
Reacting to the incident, Hon. Ejike Eze, the candidate of the Labour party for Igbo-Eze North state constituency 1 for Enugu state house of assembly, alleged that the attack was politically motivated and orchestrated by enemies of the Labour party within the state.
This is not a case of unknown gunmen; the attack was politically orchestrated by our party's opposition party and enemies. Mind you; the Labour party is not the only party that is having meetings this period in our area. The other parties also have their meetings, but none have been attacked, so why the Labour party?
Opposition parties are already jittering due to the growing popularity of LP in the area, and this has not gone down well in their camps, but they don't know that resorting to this kind of attack will not be helpful to them in any way.
Hon. Ejike said, "I call on our party members and supporters in Umuida, Ozzi ward 7, to stay calm as security agents would fish out the perpetrators and make them face the law,"