Posted by EMMA OGU, Owerri on
LEADER of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday alleged that his refusal to offer a N5 million bribe demanded by the director, State Security Service (SSS) in Imo State, Mr. Alex Amechina, was responsible for the incessant invasion of his home town, Okwe, by both men of the SSS and police.
•‘He lied'
LEADER of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday alleged that his refusal to offer a N5 million bribe demanded by the director, State Security Service (SSS) in Imo State, Mr. Alex Amechina, was responsible for the incessant invasion of his home town, Okwe, by both men of the SSS and police.
But in a swift reaction, the SSS boss denied the allegation, describing Uwazuruike as a liar.
Chief Uwazuruike who addressed newsmen at Okwe, in his six-page document, alleged that in the middle of March, his lawyer, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) told him that the SSS director had requested to discuss with him at any suitable place just to make peace.
The meeting, according to him, was finally held in Chief Ahamba's residence during which the MASSOB leader exchanged telephone numbers with Amechina and held discussion on MASSOB in the presence of Chief Ahamba and one Chief V. Ajumbe, a politician.
After a week of the said meeting, he further alleged, Mr. Amechina called him and expressed delight over his disposition at the meeting and expressed surprise that he was "more simple and humble" than he had been projected and therefore pledged to cooperate with him.
According to the MASSOB leader, towards the end of June, the SSS director requested another meeting with him but he (Uwazuruike) rejected the meeting on the ground that his lawyer, Chief Ahamba, had travelled to the United States of America (USA).
Amechina, he claimed then insisted that the meeting should hold as there was serious threat to his (Uwazuruike's) life and it would be dangerous if the meeting was delayed.
Uwazuruike explained that when he refused for the second time, the SSS boss allegedly contacted one Chief Ajumbe to mount pressure on him as his (Uwazuruike's) life was in danger.
The meeting according to him, was finally agreed to hold at Chief Ajumbe's office on June 28.
Said he: "When I arrived Chief Ajumbe's office on the said date, Mr. Amechina on phone asked the politician to come and pick him from his office.
"On their way back, Amechina commanded that the two security guards who came with me (Uwazuruike) should be kept inside the rooms as he did not want anybody in the compound to see him. When that was done Ajumbe drove him in.
"Inside Ajumbe's office, Amechina demanded that Chief Ajumbe must excuse the two of us. He even asked Ajumbe's receptionist to leave the outer room.
"As the two of us were alone he told me that the only thing he had on him was his service pistol and that I could search him if I desired. He also wanted to know if I had any tape on me. We searched ourselves.
"Having done that, he insisted that we must take an oath that nothing we discussed should be made known to anybody. I told him that I only swear by the Bible.
"He therefore made a sign of the cross on his chest promising not to betray me and asked me to do and say the same. That I did."
"He therefore started by telling me that there were two issues why he invited me. One, that the Federal Government had decided that the next option was to kill me. He stated that since he held the discussion with me at Ahamba's place, that he regretted having attacked me in the first place as he did not know that I was such a simple fellow.
"Two, that since after his last meeting with me he had consulted with the five South Eastern Governors and that four of them were in support of the struggle and that it was only one Governor that was against it, that two of the governors were willing to make financial contributions and had asked him to sound my opinion.
"I told him that I was not ready to discuss the issue of accepting contributions from the Governors on the grounds that the Governors would want to use MASSOB to achieve their political ambition. I told him that the only area I was prepared to discuss with him was on security and threat from Federal Government.
"He promised to ward off incessant attacks on me and make available to me necessary security reports regarding such attacks.
"He said that to keep an effective check on the federal side, that he needed money to handle some logistics at Abuja.
"When I inquired about the cost, he said that the total will not be more than N5 million naira. I told him of hand that I did not have such money. I also informed him that MASSOB is an organisation whose members are volunteers.
He said that seeing my house and the type of Jeeps I ride, show that I have such money only that I do not have a sense of security.
"He concluded that if indeed I do not have such money that I could raise it from the governors, insisting that the cause I am pursuing is an Igbo cause where everyone must play his role for its success.
"At that juncture, I told him that I required time to think about it. He finally said that I could make the initial deposit of N1 million as a test that if I am not satisfied with his services that I could discontinue. He also asked me to provide a different phone line where he alone could call me. We parted. After few weeks of that discussion there was calm and indeed he made some security reports available to me.
"However, I was unable to raise the N1 million he was asking for."
The MASSOB leader added that few days ago, Amechina called him and advised him to leave Nigeria as Federal Government has intensified efforts to kill him and that there was nothing he could do to soften grounds at Abuja as he (Uwazuruike) had refused to give him the allegedly demanded money.
Uwazuruike stated that he told the SSS boss that he was not leaving his village to any place, as a result of which he, Amechina, allegedly called Ajumbe and informed him that combined armed personnel had been deployed from Abuja to Okwe "and that I must leave town."
"Chief Ajumbe called me and I told him to inform Amechina that I was on my way to Lagos. When Ajumbe conveyed my message to him, Amechina later called him on Friday, August 26 to ensure that I was actually in Lagos. Chief Ajumbe called me again that night August 26 to ensure that I had arrived Lagos.
"Surprisingly my wife called on Saturday morning to inform me that men of SSS stormed my house at Lagos on Saturday morning August 27 to effect my arrest but were disappointed that I had not even arrived home.
"I quickly informed Ajumbe of my wife's call. I was surprised that in the afternoon of same Saturday armed security men took over my compound at Okwe and the surprising thing was that the so-called federal troops were the regular men of SSS, Owerri office, who recently stormed my house and arrested six of my security men.
"It therefore became clear to me that Mr. Amaechina is merely using the threat from Abuja to extort money from me when indeed he is the mastermind of such raids.
"I therefore decided to make the issue public because Mr. Amaechina told me that there is no way the raids could stop unless money is given to him," Uwazuruike further alleged.
But Amechina, who also addressed a press conference in his office, said the allegations were laughable, pointing out that he does not want to join issues with Chief Uwazuruike.
Asked if he ever held a meeting with the MASSOB leader and for what purpose. Amechina told journalists to go and ask the people Uwazuruike mentioned that hosted the said meetings.
Uwazuruike is a man who uses lies, blackmail and deliberate falsehood to achieve his objective.
"I and this command will not be deterred by blackmail," he said.