Photo: APC social media 'activist' claims he was attacked by PDP thugs for criticising former governor, Suswan

A prominent APC social media activist Mr  Armstrong Iorwase Msugh Chir, was attacked at his residence on Friday, by some persons he claimed to be PDP thugs, over his criticism of former Benue State Governor, Suswan. According to Hon. Berger Alfred Emberga, the state Acting Publicity Secretary of APC, Benue State, who spoke to IPN, Cir, told him that some supporters of the former Governor of Benue state had threatened to deal with  him if he does not stop criticizing their boss.

"If not for his neighbours that heard his cries for help and came to his rescue, the hoodlums were ready to snuff the life out of him"  Emberga added.

One of those who came to his rescue identified one of the assailants as a PDP youth leader. Chir, whose leg was broken is currently receiving treatment at a hospital. Meanwhile, the matter has been reported to the Police E Division in Markudi.
The Benue Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party has denied the claim that it was responsible for the attack.
Below is a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom

"I have read with much concern information you published this morning of a violent physical assault on the person Mr. Chir Msugh Iorwase Armstrong which resulted in bodily injuries on him, which you accused “PDP thugs” of being responsible for. I like to register the sympathies of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State to the victim and state that such an act is most reprehensible, barbaric and should be condemned by all peace-loving people, since politics is supposed to be a process of peaceable persuasion devoid of any form of coercion. Having said that, I like to emphatically absolve the PDP of any complicity in this unfortunate act, being it that the Party neither has thugs under its employ nor does it believe in the use of violence as a means to achieving it’s aims.

I would equally like to enlighten you Mr. Acting State Publicity Secretary, of the need for you to exercise restraint in your utterances and conduct in moments of this nature, as matters of criminality such as this one are under the sole jurisdiction of security agencies to investigate and unravel. ou and I are not equipped to handle such matters and your conclusions in this regard and the concomitant threats following same are not only overly hasty, premature and unfounded, but at the same time dangerous, as they are capable of triggering actions on a dimension beyond your control. Incidents of violent crime have lamentably become an unfortunate decimal on the Benue society under the watch of your party, with assassinations, kidnappings, armed-robbery taking place rampantly, and it certainly flies in the face of logic that the PDP should be fingered as a culprit in the event of an occurrence of this nature. 

As a stakeholder and opinion leader by virtue of your new status, you will at all times be required to be circumspect in speech and action which when made should be geared more towards peace-building rather than war-mongering as unfortunately, is the case with your reaction to this sad development. It is our desire that the perpetrators of this heinous act be fished out and brought to book by security agencies, same as we have been waiting for same to be done about other numerous crimes which have taken place in the past. May God Almighty grant Chir Msugh Iorwase Armstrong speedy recovery."

This post first appeared on Linda Ikeji's Blog. Read the original story here.