Mkd/Guma Constituency Updates:Suspected PDP Thugs Beat Up Party Elders And Traditional Rulers At Endorsement Meeting.

Party chairman beaten up by thugs.



Hell was let loose yesterday at the Makurdi residence of a party elder in makurdi where a meeting of Utyondu political leaders and traditional rulers degenerated into a bloody free-for-all fight.

The meeting was convened with the main agenda to get the Utyondu leaders to endorse Lands and Survey Commissioner in Benue State, Hon. John Tondu, as sole candidate for the Makurdi/Guma House of Representatives election next year.

But proceedings quickly took a nasty turn following a sharp divide between the traditional rulers who moved a motion for the endorsement of the Lands commissioner, and the political leaders who denounced the endorsement call, and who, it was evident, prefer an open field of contest for all aspirants in the race.

In attendance at the meeting were the district heads of the three council wards of the Utyondu clan, namely; Mbabai, Mbadwem and Uvii, as well as the leadership of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the three council wards and the party's Guma Local Government chairman, Hon. Athanasius Atema'akaa.

Speaking on behalf of traditional authority for their respective domains, the district heads all called for the endorsement of Hon John Tondu as a sole aspirant in the election for the House of Representatives seat for the area, and called on all other aspirants in the race to step down forthwith.

They particularly singled out Hon Dickson Tarkirgir whom they threatened should he persist and pick nomination forms for the race.

But the call of the district heads was stoutly opposed by Hon. Boniface Ortese and Chief Francis Abunde who both separately faulted the endorsement bid on grounds of legitimacy and procedure.

Hon. Ortese particularly cautioned against imposing on the free-will of the Utyondu people to choose their elected representatives and implored the traditional rulers to refrain from getting involved in political matters, as according to him, such could only serve to further drag the traditional leadership institution in the mud.

But no sooner was Hon. Ortese done with his speech than a group of persons suspected to be hired thugs, descended on the meeting and proceeded to physically attack elders and other political stalwarts there.

During the fracas, the PDP chairman of Mbadwem Coulcil Ward, Hon. Tavershima Abunde was seriously beaten by the suspected thugs and sustained bodily injuries, together with a number of other persons, all of whom it turned out belonged on the anti-endorsement divide.

Speaking to this reporter after the incident, some of the persons who escaped from the venue of the meeting vowed to continue to resist what one of them described as the desperate antics of certain forces which are bent on usurping the popular will of the Utyondu people, using money as a chief weapon.

Another source argued that it is totally undemocratic to call on other aspirants to step down just to pave the way for one aspirant, saying that anyone eyeing elective office should be courageous enough to test his or her popularity in open contest and not seek to use money to buy the mandate of the people as it appears to be case with the failed endorsement bid.

One elder pointed to the example of Rt. Hon. Gabriel Suswam who, as incumbent governor of the state, has opted to go into open contest to seek election to the Senate in next year's election.

As it turned out, the battle for the PDP ticket for the Makurdi/Guma House of Representatives seat in next year's election may just be unraveling, but analysts fear events may get nasty if measures are not urgently taken to bridge certain cracks which are opening up, especially in Utyondu where the seat is supposed to berth in 2015.