Hon. Eugene Ekpelle, the chairman of the Ahoada West Local Government Area in Rivers State, has been charged with assaulting Minnie Ogadinma, his former media assistant.
The Daily Post claims that Ogadinma’s social media posts regarding the declining state of the Community Secondary School, Odioku, sparked the conflict between the two.
Following her video, Ogadinma said the chairman went to her home on Sunday night and accused her of attempting to damage his reputation.
According to the former assistant, the chairman then gave his brother Monday Cheta the order to assault her.
She further claimed that Cheta had attacked her and tried to use a shovel during the dispute, and that it wasn’t until neighbors intervened that the situation was brought under control.
Ogadinma revealed that she was relieved of her responsibilities as a media assistant that same Sunday and added that both she and her mother were hurt during the incident.
“On Thursday, I visited my community secondary school in Odioku,” she said, describing her experience.
“I saw how awful the school was when I arrived.” They have no roof over their heads and no chairs. I created a video to ask for assistance.
“I asked VeryDarkMan to come restore the school for us by tagging him in my post.
“My mother and I were at home yesterday. Then the chairman, Monday Cheta, his younger brother, and the security guard with the driver arrived.
“They got out of the car. The chairman then remarked, “Your daughter wants to damage his image online,” as my mother attempted to welcome him.
Then he requested Monday Cheta, his younger brother, to give me a lesson. He said as much. Take this little child and teach her a lesson.
“I was in my compound. Monday shoved both my mother and my gate. Due to an earlier accident, my mother even had stitches on her lips.
My mother began to bleed from her mouth after he shoved her.
I fled into my compound as a result. Monday then came into my compound and began assaulting me. The chairman then advised him to murder me.
“My neighbors arrived when my mother sent off an alert. They had to rush him. He wanted to strike me with a shovel.
They had to take him away from where I was after they hurried him.
“The chairman then told me that even if I died, nothing would happen to him and that no one would harm him.”
The chairman, however, refuted the accusations.
The council insisted that the Chairman did not assault Ogadinma or order anybody to do so, calling the allegation “false, malicious, and deliberately distorted” in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Dennis Ezeuwa Lot.
According to the statement, Ogadinma insulted the Chairman, who had come to the property for a peaceful meeting.
It further stated that after a violent argument, she fell and suffered minor injuries while being restrained by a bystander.
The statement said, “At no point did the Chairman engage in any physical confrontation,” and it urged individuals who were pushing the accusation to present solid proof.
