APC membership registration: Hoodlums kill party chairman in Benue

The lingering crisis in the All Progressives Congress in Benue State turned bloody on Sunday as the party’s caretaker chairman in Gboko South Local Government Area ward, Tersoo Ahu, was killed.The Punch reliably gathered that Ahu was killed by some hoodlums when he went to assess preparations towards the registration in GbokoThe exercise is scheduled to commence on Tuesday.

A party source, who was at the scene of the incident but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said, “While the training was ongoing at a hotel (name withheld) at GRA, Gboko, a group of people stormed the venue and demanded to know how the adhoc staff were selected.“The development led to a heated argument and a confrontation that degenerated into a free for all which invariably resulted to the death of the ward chairman.

Another party source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The future is not so bright for the party if issues including arbitrary and unconstitutional suspension of members, and scheming some foundation members are allowed to continue.“Some leaders are running the party like a cult group while members are expected to follow sheepishly.”Confirming the incident, the state APC Caretaker Publicity Secretary, James Orgunga, said, “Yes, the Gboko South ward council chairman, Tersoo Ahu, was killed. They were around for the training for the forthcoming registration and then, some people just came and hacked him (Ahu) down and he died, that is the information I have for now.”

Earlier, our correspondent gathered that there were several unresolved issues in some local government chapters of the party before this time. Some of the affected local government areas include, Gboko, Ushongo, Guma and Konshisha.Attempts to get a response from the State APC Caretaker Chairman, Abba Yaro were futile. Calls to his mobile telephone were neither picked nor returned.A response to text messages sent to him on the issue were still being expected as of the time of filing this report.In Enugu, the state caretaker party chairman, Ben Nwoye assured the members that the exercise would hold as scheduled on Tuesday. According to him, the training of registration officers was ongoing.Nwoye said, “The delay is to ensure that logistics were put in place before the exercise kicks in.”‌An Abia State chieftain of the party, Mr. Benjamin Apugo, said the Peoples Democratic Party, which was currently in charge of most states in the zone, was living on borrowed time.He expressed confidence that the APC would take over by 2023.Apugo spoke in Umuahia, while receiving members of the APC registration team.While suing for peace in Kwara State, a chieftain of the party, Alhaji Saadu Salahu, appealed to members set aside their differences and unite in the interest of the party.He enjoined all party members to work hard to bring in more members in order to strengthen the party.

He spoke during a sensitisation programme ahead of the registration in Ibagun ward in Ilorin East Local Government Area of the state, on Sunday.Also speaking on the exercise, a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, said, “I urge you Deltans to enthusiastically embrace the current All Progressives Congress, Registration and Revalidation exercise.”