Detained Ifeanyi Ubah’s kinsmen threatened hunger strike, rally Igbo support

Detained Ifeanyi Ubah’s kinsmen threatened hunger strike, rally Igbo support

Kinsmen of detained Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, under the aegis of Association of Umudiana Ndi Nnewi Movement, Anambra State chapter, on Thursday, threatened to go on hunger strike and remain so until their son regains his freedom.

Ubah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil and Gas Limited is being held by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The association also appealed to the Ohaneze Ndigbo leadership, youth associations, human right groups and students union associations to rise to the occasion and ensure that Dr. Ubah was set free, unconditionally.

Commenting on the oil magnet’s continued detention, Prince Iwuchukwu Victor and Comrade Ejiofor Igboegwu, chairman and  secretary of the association, respectively, said the association comprising Ubah’s kinsmen both at home and in the Diaspora, were not against investigation of the oil magnate, but that  it should not impinge the fundamental rights of the detainee.

They said he should be released in line with the rule of law.

According to them, “It is unfortunate that Dr Ubah’s contributions to the economic wellbeing of this nation through creation of employment for thousands of Nigerians could so easily be forgotten by the powers that be. Our brother, Ubah never deserved the treatment he is being given by his accusers,” they argued.

The association recalled that on various occasions, Dr Ubah had intervened to avert fuel scarcity in Nigeria to show his patriotism. It said the action of keeping Ubah out of circulation through detention could be an underground plot and conspiracy to tarnish the image of the oil magnet by those who were worried about his progress in business.

“We seek justice for the CEO of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah who on so many occasions as an oil magnet turned out to be a Messiah to fuel consumers at the time of acute fuel scarcity, especially in the entire South East. He is a philanthropist to the core. And from what is happening around him now it is crystal clear that this is pure intimidation and harassment to the Igbo in general. The harassment is unacceptable to us,” the statement read.

The group said it could not come to terms why the DSS should continue to detain Ubah without trial, if allegations against him were true. It noted that since what brought about the matter in the first place was a business transaction between Dr Ubah and NNPC, that the case needed not to be criminalised.