Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade has been urged to order the immediate arrest and prosecution of his aide, General Iron, over an alleged assault on a former member of the state House of Assembly, Mark Obi.
Speaking with journalists, the Senator representing Cross River Central Senatorial District, Professor Sandy Onor said the call follows brutal attack on Obi and vandalisation of his house by the suspect.
Obi hails from Boki, one of the local government areas in Onor’s Senatorial district, but Onor attributed the assault on Obi to his refusal to join Ayade in the APC.
Onor said “this is not the Cross River State that we have always known. We know there are some economics of the oil palm estate (in Boki). But the politics is even more than the economics because the estate has been confiscated or leased to this fellow called General Iron.
“The real deal now is the politics of it. Rt Hon Mark Obi who was an appointee of the governor refused to join him in this madness called defection to the APC and the fellow is saying that that ward has to be APC and Mark Obi is saying how, why?
“And he believes that the only way to prove that he is the lord of that Manor is to mortally attack Mark Obi and sack his house. We believe that suspect is getting the courage from the fact that he is special adviser to the governor on forestry and the governor must come clean and clear on this, otherwise we will be constrained to say that he is doing this because the governor is in support of his actions.”
He said the governor was yet to make any public statement on the matter, even as he feared that Obi’s condition was becoming too critical.
“The governor should come out clearly to denounce this idiocy that is alien to us and have this young man prosecuted for the outrage and disaster he has perpetrated on society which Cross River represents.
“It is just politics of desperation. The governor moved out of the PDP and is not confident that the APC can win unless there is violence, because we hear him make statements like ‘people’s jobs are being taken away, people are being intimidated here and there by government’s associates; they must move to the APC to remain relevant and retain their revenue points.
“I hear his (Obi’s) condition was very bad but that today, he is picking up. But it is too early for us to draw conclusions. We don’t know the real state of his health. Justice must take its course. All contacts have been made and we will activate the right security contacts for the right thing to be done.”
Onor said the PDP would wait to see what actions the governor would take on the matter. His reaction came just as the elder brother to the assaulted former legislator, General Moses Obi has expressed sadness over the matter.
In a telephone interview, the senior Obi, a retired Army General, said he was yet to understand why his younger brother was beaten black and blue by an aide of the governor and noted that he was in touch with the police authorities as well as with the state governor on the issue.
