Izuchukwu Okosi
The Palace of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe late Saturday evening released a detailed statement on the activities of the monarch in recent days following media reports that the Royal Majesty was saved from boarding the ill-fated train that was attacked by a terrorist group along the Abuja-Kaduna route on Monday, 28 March 2022 by a phone call.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelSeveral online publications had on their tabloids, the story Obi of Onitsha was allegedly barred from travelling to a public function due to an impromptu phone call, but Chief of Staff to the Monarch, Chinyelugo Osita Anionwu in a statement released, cleared the air on the issue.
“A statement on the on-going media frenzy connecting the Obi of Onitsha with the unfortunate attack on the Abuja to Kaduna train by armed bandits on 28 March 2022.
“The attention of Ime Obi Onitsha (the Palace) has been drawn to a story titled: ‘How Phone Call Saved Me From Boarding Attacked Train’ which was attributed to His Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe, CFR, mni, Obi of Onitsha by the authors of the story as having made the statement today, Saturday, 02 April 2022, ” a clear indication that the Obi never made the comments on Saturday.
“For the records, the Palace would like to state categorically that His Majesty never made such a statement to anyone at anytime. However, the Palace would like to state the following facts about His Majesty’s movements around 28 March when the Abuja to Kaduna train was attacked by armed bandits,” the statement made available to Prime Business Africa read.
The Palace then subsequently made the following points to reiterate that the Obi was not in any danger as of 28 March 2022.
1)While His Majesty was abroad, the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, Kaduna state, sent a letter dated 21 January 2022 inviting him to deliver a lecture on Tuesday 29 March 2022 to its armed training programme of officers from all security agencies in the country on internal securities.
2) His Majesty on return to Onitsha on 08 February, accepted the invitation, keeping with his commitment along with his brother traditional rulers to the promotion of of peace and harmony of the country.
3) In discussing the options for His Majesty’s travel to Jaji with his host on 14 March, the option of travel by train from Abuja to Kaduna was considered and set aside in favour of road transport with adequate security escort.
4) Thus, His Majesty travelled safely to Jaji on 28 March and returned to Abuja on 30 March with adequate security escort provided by the AFCSC, and no hitches whatsoever.
5) On January 31st, His Majesty attended the South East leadership press conference at Enugu. In his brief goodwill message, he lamented the state of insecurity and violence in the country and drew attention to the train attack in which the Onitsha kingdom lost a young medical doctor, Chinelo Megafu.
It was in that connection that His Majesty mentioned casually that the option of his travelling by train had long been set aside in favour of road travel by mutual agreement with his hosts. No references was made to any imaginary phone call from anyone. This has been His Majesty’s only public reference to the train attack on 28 March.
6) The news media were present at the Enugu meeting and one of them would be the source of false and convoluted story claiming that His Majesty made the said statement on Saturday 02 April 2022.
Indeed, His Majesty mostly engaged today with the Anambra Peace Meeting organised jointly by the New Anambra state Government of Mr Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and the joint body of the South East Council of Traditional Rulers and the Archbishops/Bishops of the South East on Peace and Conflict Resolution. Other than delivering the keynote press statement of the occasion, His Majesty did not engage the media on any subject whatsoever.
7) The entire country is in dire straits on internal security and anyone could be a victim in the situation that we currently face, for instance, the unfortunate victims of the train attack.
Thus, it is absolutely callous to use such a distressful national tragedy to grab fake media attention.
8) People who know His Majesty would attest that he does his utmost as a royal father to advance the cause of peace, harmony and progress in the entire country in a quiet, unobtrusive manner and away from the public glare of the media.
All His Majesty’s communication devices has since been inundated with calls and messages. This message, is therefore, being issued to put everyone’s mind at rest that His Majesty was not near danger whatsoever on 28 March, 2022.
9) Let us pray for God’s blessings and grace on our challenged country.
Chinyelugo Osita Anionwu
Chief of Staff, ImeObi Onicha.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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