YPP Claims They Rescued Anambra Commissioner From Mob Attack

The campaign council of Sir Paul Chukwuma, the Young Progressives Party’s governorship candidate in Anambra, has said its members were responsible for rescuing the state Commissioner for Youth Development, Patrick Agha Mba, from an angry mob in Onitsha.

The incident happened at the gate of the Onitsha General Hospital, recently renamed Federal Medical Centre, when Chukwuma arrived to assist victims of the recent gunshot attack at Onitsha main market. According to the council, the commissioner blocked the hospital entrance to stop the transfer of injured traders to another facility.

Chukwuma had earlier visited the main market where traders accused government operatives of attacking them, leaving several dead and others injured. His campaign team said he urged the traders to remain calm before arranging for better medical attention for those still suffering in hospital.

Trouble began when Chukwuma secured an ambulance to move the injured and was preparing their transfer. At that point, a vehicle belonging to the commissioner allegedly blocked the hospital gate. Witnesses said his presence angered relatives of the victims, who accused him of representing the same government linked to the violence.

The campaign council stated that the mob descended on the commissioner after he reportedly ordered hospital staff to shut their doors. Tensions flared, and the commissioner was forced to leave. The Chukwuma team claimed it was their members who stepped in to shield him from the traders and restore calm.

The council accused the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance of trying to twist the incident by circulating videos to shift blame. It maintained that Chukwuma’s intervention was purely humanitarian and aimed at ensuring injured traders received proper treatment.

It also linked the violence at the market to Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, whose vehicles and office were destroyed by enraged traders. The group insisted that the government’s actions had eroded trust and widened the gap between authorities and citizens.

In a broader political swipe, the campaign council challenged Governor Charles Soludo to account for state funds managed in his three years in office. It warned that no attempt to distract voters with propaganda would prevent the YPP candidate and his running mate, Uzu Okagbue, from offering credible competition in the November 8 election.