APGA Gov’ship Candidate Blames Ebonyi Communal Clashes On Political Intolerance

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Ebonyi State, Prof Bernard Odoh yesterday said that 80 per cent of the communal crisis in the state are linked to political intolerance and government involvement in village politics.

Briefing journalists in Abakaliki, he said in the course of his consultations across the state and some communities ravaged by crisis, it was observed that the remote and immediate cause of most of the crisis are linked to government’s overbearing involvement in the activities of the people.

“If you visit many of these communities that are involved in one communal crisis or the other, you’ll discover that over 80 percent of the causes are all linked to  political involvement,” he said.

Odoh maintained that political leaders in the state should pursue agenda and policies that would bring investments into the state but regretted that rather than do so, they are busy trying to create tension and panic following their involvement in village politics.

“Our political leaders get so much involved in community politics and activities, all in a bid to put people who would be servants to their authority and this is what give rise to the communal crisis we witness in the state.

“As a governor from next year, my focus would not be on petty communal leadership tussle, as I speak to you now, many communities who have elected town union did that at the instructions of the government, not on the basis of who the community prefers as a leader.

“Society that is created that way must have tensions, there must be people who would say no to this, and this is what causes the tension,” he said.

He stated that the Effium/Ezza Effuim communal crisis started from the motor park. “The two persons involved were appointees and elected members of the same government, so you can see the link and the relationship.”