Everest Ezihe || The continuous detention of Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, the Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited by the Department of State Services over a business transaction between his company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been described by Barr. Wisdom Durueke as a political vendetta by the Presidency just to punish and strangulate the business mogul following his support to out gone President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 Presidential election through his grassroots political network Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).
Barr. Durueke who is a human right activist and a legal icon said this in Owerri on Tuesday while interacting with newsmen on the implication of DSS refusal to drag Chief Ubah to court to show why he should not be released unconditionally and in line with an order of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
He pointed out that “if the issue is not politically masterminded, how does a dispute about who owes who and how much, between the NNPC, and Capital Oil, should become a national security issue?” he queried.
The human right activist further informed that the Scenario is likened to how federal government strangulated late Chief M.K.O Abiola for his participation in politics as well as Chief Orji Uzor Kalu for allegedly having the gut to challenge President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Barr. Durueke recalled that Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah through TAN campaigned vigorously for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of PDP and eventually Alhaji Muhammud Buhari of APC won and now the Federal government is allegedly using its security agencies to intimidate, harass and frustrate perceived political enemies of the government.
While Chief Pius Okoye, the National President, Igboezue International, and Diaspora, said the continuous detention of Chief Uba by DSS without Persecution is allegedly part of the nation’s agenda to frustrate socio-economic activities of progressive Igbo business men and women.
Okoye who is the President of the socio-cultural organization noted that most of the nation’s oil and gas blocs are controlled by the Northerners but non of them is facing the kind of ordeal Chief Ifeanyi Ubah is being subjected to because he is an Igbo man and the Chairman of Capital oil and Gas Industries Limited.
The National President said “if this is not an ethnic war, Capital Oil and NNPC are legal entities, Ubah is not the person that should be arrested and detained over a legal transaction by two legal business bodies.
He pointed out that DSS is claiming that he arrested and detained Uba over an allegation of that he sold fuel belonging to the NNPC valued at N11 billion but capital oil, on the other hand, said that the NNPC owes it N16 billion, which it refused to pay after repeated demand.
Okoye insisted that it was unjust for the Federal Government to owe one firm N16 billion, stressing that the aim probably was to strangulate the company and its employee of which majority are Nigerians thrown into labour market.
According to him “A debt of N16billion is the highest economic sabotage. It is the biggest corruption. He NNPC should be made to explain why it is owing Capital Oil a whopping sum of N16Bilion” he said.
The National President enjoined Ndigbo to speak out in condemnation of the injustice noting that injury to one is an injury to all.