ACN Man, Brother, Four Others Killed In Benue Clash.Several Houses Of PDP Chieftains Burnt Down.

A member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Celestine Agber, his brother and four others were yesterday killed in a skirmish in Ugba, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.
  Their death, it was learnt, followed a clash between ACN and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters.
Governor Gabriel Suswam and the ACN governorship candidate in the April election, Prof Steven Torkum Ugba, are from the local government. 
An ACN chieftain, who pleaded anonymity, told The Nation that the late Agber, popularly called Egbe Nack, had allegedly been under threat from the ruling party. 
The party chieftain said a week before his death, the late Agber, who hailed from Konshisha Local Government Area, had been threatened.
The businessman had lived in Ugba for over 30 years, doing his transport business. 
Some of his property, including his trucks, were set ablaze after he was killed by unknown persons.
Senate Minority Leader George Akume condemned the violence. 
A statement by his media aide, Mrs. Beckie Orpin, quoted the former governor as describing the attack as barbaric and retrogressive.
Akume said it portrayed the PDP as intolerant of the opposition, adding that the act negates the tenets of democracy.
The statement said: “Though only 12 years of age, our democracy is fast growing and we cannot afford to sit and watch a few tyrants drag us back to the Dark Age.
“The police and law enforcement agencies must dig into the cause of this crisis with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.”
The senator condoled with the bereaved families and appealed to ACN supporters to remain calm.
He promised that the party would get to the root of the killing.
Benue State ACN also condemned the attack. 
Addressing reporters at the party’s secretariat in Makurdi, the state Chairman, Comrade Abba Yaro said the attack on ACN members by suspected PDP thugs was a manifestation of the ruling party’s intimidation to prevent the opposition from claiming its mandate at the election petitions tribunal.
Yaro said ACN had prior knowledge of the attack and that the house of its governorship candidate, Prof Torkuma Ugba, was burnt.
Accusing some PDP chieftains of masterminding the attack, the ACN chairman warned security agencies to protect members of his party to avoid the breakdown of law and order.
Governor Gabriel Suswam said the violence broke out following the killing of “a money lender” and his brother at 3.30am.  
He said: “They (rioters) burnt the houses of former members of the House of Assembly, James Iwar and Mamwoo Terkaa, and that of National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) state Coordinator Donald Kertyo.” 
Suswam urged the residents to remain calm, saying armed policemen and Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) have been deployed in Ugba.
Benue Police Command spokesman, Alaribe Ejike, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the situation has been brought under control as the police had begun investigations. 
He said no arrest has been made.

source The Nation
Pictures courtesy of Vanguard.