Nothing Should Happen to Ifeanyi Ubah - S/East Traditional Rulers Warns DSS

Eminent traditional rul­ers from the South-East zone have added their voices to the continued deten­tion of billionaire business­man, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a commercial dis­pute with the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The monarchs, who said that they had intelligence that there were evil machinations against him, warned that no harm should come to Ubah.

They described the deten­tion of Ubah, who is the Chair­man of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd, as politically-motivated.
Some of the traditional rulers alleged plans to poison Ubah in DSS detention cell.
The royal fathers, who spoke to The AUTHORITY on Ubah’s ordeal on Tuesday, in­cluded Igwe Nnamdi Oruche, Igwe Ozubulu (Anambra South Senatorial District); Igwe Chi­jioke Nwankwo, Osuofia II of Isuofia (Anambra Central Senatorial Zone); Igwe Peter Uyanwa, Ezedike of Ukwu­lu Kingdom (Anambra Cen­tral Senatorial Zone), Igwe Nkeli Nzekwesili, the Oka­lakwu of Igbariam (Anambra North Senatorial Zone), and the Chairman of Tradition­al Rulers Council , Umuahia North Local Government of Abia State, Eze Philip Ajomiwe, Igwe Nnamdi Oruche of Ozub­ulu, Ekwusigo Local Govern­ment Area of Anambra State.
They all insisted that the in­carceration of Ubah is politi­cally-motivated and is aimed at taking his life.
He said: “We have careful­ly studied the case between the DSS and Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah and discovered that it is politically-motivated. Everybody is aware that if two persons are owing each other, what they need to do is to approach the civil court and do a counter-balance if they cannot resolve the differ­ences within; but in this case, people who are against Ifeanyi Ubah have risen to use the DSS to detain him and poison him in detention.
“Yes, we have intelligence that those who are behind Ubah’s ordeal want to bribe the DSS to kill him in deten­tion. The traditional rulers in Anambra State are solidly be­hind him. We cannot allow this to happen to our illustri­ous son. We are out to stop this nonsense,” he said, adding that what the DSS had done to the Capital Oil boss was the height of ingratitude to a young man who has done so much for his country.
Igwe Chijioke Nwankwo, Osuofia II of Nwafia from Njik­oka Council of Anambra State, said that the matter was a civil case which could be better re­solved in a civil court instead of incarcerating Ubah in DSS’ cell.
“The case between Capital Oil and the DSS, or rather, the NNPC, is not a criminal case. It is a civil case that could be han­dled by the court. Moreover, if Capital Oil had a case, the DSS should have sued the enterprise, not detaining the chairman.
“Since he is not denying ow­ing NNPC, and the NNPC is not denying owing him either, what is the essence of detaining him? Is it not more civil to bring the case to the court and resolve the matter in a more intelligent and mature manner? Some­thing is fishy! The DSS must explain the grand plan behind detaining Ubah, if not that they want to kill him,” he said.
The traditional ruler of Uk­wulu Kingdom in Dunukofia Council of Anambra State, Igwe Peter Uyanwa said: “Ifeanyi Ubah is a business mogul that is in business to make profit. From what we hear and read, we understand that the Capital Oil is being owed by NNPC to the tune of N16 billion, while the Capital Oil has NNPC’s N11 billion in its possession. As a businessman, if you owe me and your money gets into my hand, I will hold it while we do counter-balance.
“The DSS detaining Ubah is unlawful! They are holding him there in order to find a way to eliminate him because they envy him as a successful Igbo person. If not, they should send him to court to regain his free­dom while the matter goes on; after all, it is not the duty of the DSS to recover debts.
“As a royal father, I will call on the DSS to find a way of re­solving the matter amicably; perhaps, bringing it to a round­table. Nigerians have a lot of re­spect for the DSS, so, they must not betray the trust. We are not happy that our illustrious son is being disgraced by this agen­cy of the Federal Government,” he said.
Igwe Uyanwa, who is one of the most respected royal fathers in Anambra and the South East, warned that if af­ter seven days Ubah remains in the DSS’ cell, traditional rulers in Anambra would storm the DSS headquarters in Abuja to ask them what they want to do with our son”.
Similarly, the Chairman of Traditional Rulers Council, Umuahia North Local Govern­ment of Abia State, Eze Phil­ip Ajomiwe, called for the im­mediate release of Ubah by the DSS.
Igwe Ajomiwe told The AUTHORITY in Umuahia, the state capital that it smacks of rascality and impunity for the secret police to continue to keep Ubah against a court order.
The monarch regretted that the Federal Government and security agencies under the watch of President Muham­madu Buhari had chosen to disregard court orders.
He argued that it is only the court of competent juris­diction that could pronounce Ubah guilty, but since no such pronouncement had come from any court, it amounts to illegality for the DSS to assume the role of the court.
The monarch insisted that it is an offence under the Ni­geria law to hold somebody behind bars beyond 24 hours without charging him to court.
He, therefore, urged the DSS to charge Ubah to court if found guilty or release him as directed by the court.
The famous cassava farm­er and French-trained industri­alist, said that the kind of exec­utive impunity and rascality of security agents in Nigeria does not obtain abroad.
He asked the Federal Gov­ernment not to use the current anti-corruption war to pursue sectional agenda, wondering why only Igbo illustrious sons are the victims of executive lawlessness in Nigeria.