Youths suspected to be irate in the early hours of yesterday in Ashama community, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State allegedly flogged a vigilante boss in the area Tony Osamor fifty strokes of cane for impounding a motorcycle after the recent ban place on motorcycle in the areas.
While the fear of the unknown has continued to unsettle the community, it was reliable gathered that Tony Osamor and his group members allegedly impounded a motorcycle that was operating at late hour contrary to the new by-law recently passed by Aniocha South Local Government which banned motorcycle from operating beyond 8:00pm every day.
The victim, Tony Osamor who confirmed the incident to journalists in Asaba said: “we arrested one Nwachukwu who is a motorcycle operator at about 12:00am, the following day, we carried the motorcycle to the police station in Ogwashi-Uku and deposited it there, only for somebody to have called me that the Obi (Royal father of the community) had directed the youth leader, one Chukwudi Ijeh and his boys to arrest me, bring me to the palace for impounding the motorcycle”.
He explained that while on his way the following day to the palace, some of the youths allegedly descended on him with broke bottles, insisting that he should be stripped naked, and taken to the palace.
But this he added, was not to be when he resisted, instead, they allegedly tied his hands, and began to flog him over fifty strokes of cane. He said: “I was stabbed on the back, and right hand by the irate youths, those who wanted to broke peace were also beaten, and given strokes of cane, I have never seen before a situation an advanced man was flogged as if were in primary school, or primary one pupils, I have reported the matter to the police in the area”.
But the president of the youths, Chukwudi Ijeh when contacted on the phone denied any complicity in the matter, saying that he had no issue with anybody, and should therefore not be dragged into the matter, While the police officers at the Ogwashi-Uku Police Division who did not want their names in the print confirmed the report, the Royal Father of the community, HRH (Obi) Solomon Iwum in a telephone denied any crisis in the community, maintaining that the matter was a face-off between the youths, and that he never directed the youths to attack anybody or Tony Osamor.
He said: “I got wind of the incident, and I cautioned the youths, I can assure you there is peace, but I state clearly that Tony Osamor is not the vigilante chairman of Ashama community from what I learnt, he was wounded when he fought with the youths of the community”.
