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Wants Case of Woman Owed by Works Minister Probed
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Vows to Revisit Case of Five NELAN Engineers Murdered in Ebonyi
- Safiu Kehinde
A group of protesters has on Friday stormed the Ministry of Works in demand for the probe into the case of Sen. Dave Umahi and Tracey Ohiri, the woman detained for calling out the minister over alleged N205 million unpaid debts.
This is coming days after the viral video of the face-off between Umahi and Ohiri at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command’s conference room.
NPO Reported that the video capture by human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, showed the businesswoman aggressively charging towards Umahi.
She was however restrained by police officers as Sowore challenged the minister, accusing him of using the police to settle personal scores.
The video had since escalated the case as the woman recounted how Umahi had refused to pay her after delivering materials for his governorship campaign in 2014 before being arraigned to court on Thursday.
While she was granted bail by the Abuja Magistrate Court, the protesters took over her case as they stormed the Ministry of Works with placards demanding for police investigation on the Minister.
Addressing newsmen during the protest, human rights activist, Mama Pee, recalled cases of other women to suffered similar fate in the hand of Umahi, especially Stella Okengwu, the CEO of real estate company, WINHOMES Estate.
“This is what we need to make Nigeria work. If this woman had died, what would Umahi have said it the problem? Is it pekus? How much is nyash? Go and buy it. You are a Minister. You can afford it.
“I don’t know what he has with successful women.
“Look at WINHOMES, that woman has been crying for the longest. People from diaspora brought real estate. Umahi, according to her, asked her for what she cannot give.
“Because she could not give, he destroyed billions of Dollars properties. That woman is somewhere crying.” Mama Pee said.
The activist labelled Umahi a tyrant that must be ousted out of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“Umahi has become a tyrant that must be chased away. He is a shame on the Tinubu administration. Tinubu administration is a shame. So, imagine Umahi as a double shame.” She added.
Similarly, another protester maintained that Umahi is not above the law as he called the attention new acting IGP, Disu, to one of the FCT Command officer identified as Fakorede over his alleged collusion with Umahi in carrying out the minister’s directives.
‘The new IG, unfortunately you have a lot of works to do. Within your ranks there, Fakorede needs to be checked. Umahi is not above the law.” He said.
Meanwhile, the protester noted that the case of the five NELAN Engineers murdered in Ebonyi state during Umahi’s tenure as the state governor needs to be revisited.
He recalled Ohiri’s statement where she mentioned the minister’s threat of dealing with her the same way the engineers were dealt with if she attempts to come to Ebonyi in demand for her money.
“One other important issue we must not forget is that she alleged that Umahi threatened her that if she comes to Ebonyi state, what happened to the NELAN Engineers will happen to her.
“When we are done with this woman’s issue, we will now ask the question about the NELAN engineers. Who are their relatives that have information about them?
“The last time I heard, someone said they were behead and buried that nobody saw their bodies.” He said.
According to reports, five NELAN engineers deployed as consultants to the AfDB road project in Ebonyi state were abducted on 3rd November 2021.
Their bodies would later be found buried in shallow grave after over four months of search by the police.
One of the engineers reportedly had his head chopped off with some claims that their bodies were also burnt by their assailants.