Delta State Commissioner for Secondary and Basic Education, Patrick Muoboghare, was attacked and brutally beaten on Saturday for allegedly trying to force a concocted list of local government ward executives on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Uwheru, Delta State.
According to SaharaReporters sources, the attack on the commissioner, who is a professor and a former state chairman of the Academics Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), was carried out by a group of armed and aggrieved PDP youths.
The sources said further that the Commissioner was stabbed several times at the party secretariat in Ughelli North local government area of the state.
One source disclosed that the badly beaten commissioner was in very critical condition at the Oghara Teaching Hospital.
The sources who spoke to SaharaReporters accused Mr. Muoboghare of being among leaders of the party who designed and oversaw what numerous party members described as a kangaroo inauguration at the party secretariat in Ughelli.
“We the youths were very disappointed that a professor involved himself in such shady acts,” said one of the youth leaders. He added that some irate youths had ambushed the commissioner and beaten him close to the point of death.
One of the sources said the commissioner was first rushed to a private hospital before been transferred to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara.
Several youth activists revealed that their anger with the commissioner was compounded by the fact that he rarely visited his home area. “Professor Patrick Muoboghare is not even known by his own people, only for him to visit and to be forcing a doctored list of the party executives on us. That’s why youths aggressively resisted,” one party member said.
“The congress ought to have held since last year as it happened nationwide, but did not hold in the local government,” said one source. “But names were doctored by the powers-that-be in the council, but due to fear of reaction from the majority of the party members the ward executives were not inaugurated then.” He continued: “With the death of Senator Pius Ewherido and the consequent bye-election due to be conducted by INEC to fill the vacant seat soon, some aspirants who have connection with the powers-that-be doctored another list of ward executives which they planned to inaugurate on Saturday.”
Another eyewitness gave a blow-by-blow account of events. “As soon as the commissioner arrived [at] the party secretariat, an aggrieved youth threw a chair at him. He dodged it only to be attacked by another youth with a dagger directly at his heart with blood gushing out. His security detail rushed him to the Ufor Hospital, Ughelli for medical attention,” said the witness.
SaharaReporters learnt that the Delta State Commissioner of Health, Joseph Otumara, as well as Deputy Governor, Amos Utuama, gave orders to draft more doctors to the Ufor Hospital to save the life of the gravely wounded commissioner.
A source at the private hospital told our correspondent that an ambulance transported Mr. Muoboghare to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara because the private hospital did not have enough equipment to handle the severity of his injuries. We spoke to a doctor at the teaching hospital who curtly said a team of doctors was battling to save the commissioner’s life. He then hung up.
Several sources said some top PDP leaders in the state witnessed the attack on the commissioner. Among those said to be present were Steve Oru, Terry Noah, Fred Majemite, Benson Asore and Ovie Agas. The sources added that the party’s state chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi, and his entourage had envisaged crisis at the secretariat and took flight.
A youth agitator said the party leaders took to
their heels as soon as the commissioner came under physical attack.
“They abandoned him in a pool of his blood before the security detail rushed him to the hospital,” said the source.
SaharaReporters
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