Abia State government has described as “false and misleading” the report in a newspaper [not Vanguard] that Governor Theodore Orji was booed and pelted with sachet water in Aba during the burial ceremony of pioneer Catholic Bishop of Aba, Bishop Vincent Valentine Ezeonyia, in the commercial city on Friday.
The state government said “there was no time the governor was booed or jeered at not to talk of pelting him with pure water” during the burial ceremony, saying the report was part of the war against the state by the said newspaper.
It said that the governor and other dignitaries, including the representative of President Goodluck Jonathan did not speak at the ceremony because there was no provision for them to make speeches, saying it was not true that Orji did not speak due to the hostile attitude of the crowd as reported by the paper.
In a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Charles Ajunwa, said “the report and the pictures painted therein never occurred”, describing the report as “a figment of the imagination of the reporter”.
In his account of what transpired in Aba, Ajunwa said: “The environment at the CKC, Aba, venue of the funeral mass for the late bishop, was calm when the governor arrived at exactly 10 am with his wife and other government officials.
“On arrival, the Governor and his delegation moved straight into the cathedral which was filled to capacity without any incident.
“There was no time the governor was booed or jeered at not to talk of pelting him with pure water; the crowd outside merely cheered thunderously when he was officially announced as one of the dignitaries attending the burial”.
‘It was not true that the hostile attitude of the crowd towards the Governor prevented him from speaking at the event, pointing out that the truth is that from the programme there was no provision for the Governor or any other dignitary to speak”.
