The attack on Comrade Precious Nwadike, the Publisher of Owerri based Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper is taking another dimension, as the man accused by Nwadike to have supervised his Beating, Mr Uche Uzodinma, a relation of Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, denies the act, pushing it to workers of the Owerri Capital Development Authority, OCDA. In a purported interview granted Imo State owned, Statesman Newspaper, Uche Uzodinma said that “The truth is that I don’t even know him. I had not seen him before nor heard anything about him. He doesn’t also know me” he said about Precious Nwadike.
However, in the same interview the said Uche Uzodinma narrated how he met Precious Nwadike, same day, time and place the alleged assault took place, even when he swore, not to have met Nwadike before.
Instead Uche Uzodinma said that “It appeared that the guys from OCDA disagreed with him for flouting a simple directive”.
However, Uche Uzodinma who said “I don’t even know him” was the same, fellow in the interview who disclosed that “I told him, young men, could you continue with your journey? It was during this exchange that I found out that he was going to OCDA”.
But in an interview granted some Media Houses, Nwadike said that it was rather Workers of OCDA who rescued him from the hands of Uzodinma and his Body Guards who were bent on killing him, until he passed out and found himself in the hospital where he regained consciousness.
Meanwhile, Staff of OCDA have denied beating Precious Nwadike, as they said the man did not even enter their premises on the faithful day.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Imo State, various Non Governmental Organizations NGOs, and Youth organizations have condemned the attack on Nwadike.
In a release signed by its Publicity Secretary, Ogobundu Nwadike, the Imo PDP described the assault on Nwadike as unbecoming in a democratic Government, and the berated the Uzodinma administration which the party said has reduced Imo people to a second class status in their own State.
Imo Peoples Action for Democracy in its release said Governor Uzodinma would be held responsible should anything happen to Nwadike.
It went on to say that “Going by the increasing attempts by the State Government to gag the Press and free speech, we are therefore left with no option than to believe that this could be another ploy to suppress free speech and expression in the State” the document signed by Majorie Ezihe and Chibundu Uchegbu for IPAD read.
