CHIME ESCAPES DEATH
Enugu State governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime
Enugu State governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, yesterday escaped death as, two hours after he flagged-off his campaign, the police confirmed that a bomb was planted at the pavillion he and other top politicians from the state sat.
The state's police public relations officer (PPRO), Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed this strange find, told Saturday Sun that officers of the anti-bomb squad in the state have removed the bomb, even as the police are carrying out investigations to unravel those behind the act.
The police said the bomb was planted under one of the chairs not far from where Chime sat. As at press time, there was no information as to the calibre of bomb discovred.
Meanwhile, Chime, basking in the euphoria of his victory at an Abuja Federal High Court, which vacated an injunction against his position as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, has vowed to crush all opposition in the April election.
Addressing party faithful yesterday at the Okpara Square during the official flag-off of his campaign the governor urged the people to continue to show their support by voting en masse for the PDP and protecting such votes.
Said he: 'Vote for us and leave the opposition to us; we shall take care of them; we shall surely wrestle them to the ground.'
He also advised the people to beware of dangerous rumours from the camps of the opposition, adding: 'Be steadfast; the battle is never over until it is over; the people we are dealing with are desperate; they will do anything to get power; they know they can never win any election, so they continue causing mischief and I assure you that nothing whatsoever will make them succeed; I therefore enjoin you to do your bit by voting for the PDP, we know how to deal with opposition.
'Thuggery is a thing of the past; nothing will ever take us back to thuggery; so for anybody planning to use thuggery, for anybody planning to use violence, let him learn from the lessons of Egypt; let him learn from Tunisia; it is not what you want to do but what God wants to happen; so they should wait till 2015 and try their luck, but the way they are going they may not even get anything in 2015.'
Chime expressed gratitude to God for the opportunity and possibility to finally launch his campaign, pointing out that about 36 positions, including 24 House of Assembly seats, three senatorial seats, eight House of Representatives and the governorship position are to be vied for in the state.
He recalled that about a week earlier President Goodluck Jonathan was in Enugu to kick-start his presidential campaign in the zone during which he was given the flag as the governorship candidate.
'I want to say that all our candidates in the state are stars in their own right and apart from the PDP candidates in Enugu all other candidates for the April election are not credible,' he said.
The governor said the reason for the credibility of the PDP candidates is because they were chosen by the people.
'They were not handpicked and the people running against them are on their own; they want to satisfy their urge; come April we expect you to endorse what you have done before,' he said.