The former House of Representatives member was reportedly abducted in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital on Sunday.
The Senatorial Candidate of the Labour Party for the Ebonyi South Senatorial district, Hon. Linus Okorie, has been kidnapped.
The former House of Representatives member was reportedly abducted in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital on Sunday.
Okorie who represented Onicha, Ohaozara, and Ivo federal constituency of Ebonyi state in the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2015 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is contending the Ebonyi South Senatorial seat with Governor David Umahi, the incumbent governor.
According to a statement signed by one David Ogbonna on behalf of Linus Okorie Caring Heart Foundation, Okorie was alleged to have been abducted by an Ebube Agu security outfit in the state.
The statement reads, “Hon. Linus Abaa Okorie was kidnapped early this morning on his way to his house in Abakaliki by gunmen known to be men of the Ebube Agu Security outfit allegedly sent by the Onicha Local Government Chairman.
“The available information confirms that he’d been severely tortured to a near-death situation, made naked, and pictures of him taken by his abductors.
“Their end-point motive is to torture him to death and dump his body at Ebonyi river. His phones are currently with the team commander of his abductors.
“A professional tracking done on his lines revealed ‘Okoja Road, near Police Headquarters’, as his current location. The second line showed ‘Ebun-Nwana, Edda’.
“We’re believing that his abductors may have kept his half-dead body at an old Government house where the previous actions of the indicted militia group usually take place," the statement partly read.
The Sector Commander of Ebube Agu, Mr. Friday Ujor, when contacted on the telephone over the allegation of his team behind the incident described it as unfounded and malicious.
Ujor said, "The information is fake. There is nothing concerning Ebube Agu with that information.
“I have asked the people sending this where it happened, maybe he has fallen into the hands of kidnappers and they are calling Ebube Agu.
"How can someone say that his phone is reading Ebounwana in Afikpo and Abakaliki at the same time? This is a clear case of you wanting to kill a dog and you give it a bad name to suit what you want."
Meanwhile, the state police command has been silent on the incident and efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chris Anyawu, were unsuccessful as he did not answer his calls.
Earlier SaharaReporters reported that Okorie’s wife, Nkiru, in a video seen by SaharaReporters which was posted on Twitter by Dr Charles Odogwu, on Monday, alleged that her husband had been abducted by Ebube Agu security outfit, which she claimed was working for Umahi.
Nkiru said she was out of the country to get a master’s degree but was told he had been kidnapped when she could not reach him on the phone.
She said, “I’m here to raise an alarm about what is happening to my husband. I was just informed now that because I was calling my husband early this morning…I’m in the US for a course. That the governor sent Ebube Agu to come and kidnap my husband, Hon Linus Okorie.
“Hon Linus Okorie has been kidnapped since last night by the governor. He wants to kill my husband for no reason.
“So, I beg you people, please come to my aid. I’m not even in the country. I’m outside the country with my kids because I came to do my master’s. They have kidnapped my husband; they have kidnapped my husband since last night. Ebube Agu that used to kill people, slaughter people.
“The governor through Ebube Agu has kidnapped my husband because those are the people that do his dirty business. Please fellow Nigerians[GA1] help me. He has been on my husband’s case; I don’t go to Facebook to say anything against this man.”
Nkiru also alleged that Governor Umahi has been extorting money from Okorie over his political ambition.
She said Umahi “removed” her husband from office despite telling her in 2015 that her husband was one of those doing well in the National Assembly.
“He knows my husband has a voice; he talks. This man will always be castigating my husband,” she said.
She also alleged that Governor Umahi said Okorie must pay him before he would be allowed to return to the House of Representatives.
“My husband had to go and borrow hundreds of dollars to be giving this man. I don’t talk because I’m a civil servant but I am so choked now, I can’t indulge anymore. My husband has been kidnapped by Dave Umahi. Please, fellow Nigerians, come and help me,” she said.
Meanwhile, in January 2022, Umahi’s government declared Okorie wanted over allegations of publishing “inciting” messages.
Uchenna Orji, Ebonyi information commissioner said a report presented to the security council on the recent beheading of an operative of the Ebube Agu security outfit linked the publications by the former lawmaker to the incident.
Orji said, “The security council considered a report presented to it by security agencies on the beheading of an Ebube Agu official in Ivo local government area.
“The security council noted the revelations in that report and therefore resolved to declare wanted one honourable Linus Okorie for the publications and inciting statements, some of which were posted on Facebook, that were traced to be part of the inflammatory publications that really incited that very tension that led to the beheading of the Ebube Agu official.
“The security council also noted the revelations in the report that indicated that some other people were accessories to that very gruesome murder of that young man.
“The security council resolved that the security agencies be urged to intensify investigations and come to a final conclusion on all the issues with a view to bringing all perpetrators to book.
“It must be noted that the Ebube Agu security outfit has been up and doing in Ebonyi state. Where they are erring, it has been noted and I want to tell the public that there will be a great change, especially in the way and manner they handle issues that come before them.
“That is one of the reasons the structure was further modified, in terms of the command.”
Okorie had responded to the declaration by saying that the governor was “looking for a high-profile scapegoat to take away attention from the many lives being lost to Ebube Agu operatives in the state”.
In a statement, Okorie said he was not invited by any security agency to respond to the allegations against him.