The standard bearers of the All Progressives Congress and the All Progressive Grand Alliance in the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election took to social media on Monday to express their opinions on the stampede that claimed the lives of 30 people at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ground, Uke in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.

The candidate of the APC, Chris Ngige, blamed the incident, which occurred during a vigil service last Saturday, on the candidate of the APGA, Willie Obiano and Governor Peter Obi.

However, Obiano, who was alleged to have attended the service in company with Obi and the National Chairman of the APGA, Dr. Victor Umeh, went on Twitter to deny that he was responsible for the deaths.

Apparently to prove his point, Ngige posted on Twitter and Facebook a photograph, which showed the leaders of the ruling APGA dressed in the party’s campaign uniform.

Also in the picture, nine men dressed in the same uniform, which had the image of the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu inscribed on it, could be seen kneeling before an officiating minister who appeared to be offering prayers.

“My people, be the judge: Are these men praying or campaigning? Does one go to a vigil in a campaign uniform? You see their lying lives. The last time I attended the adoration at Uke was in June. Then I had not even declared for governorship. I quietly went as an individual to seek the face of God. The priest prayed for me and I quietly left. But, in their desperation, these gentlemen here turned a praying-ground to a campaign ground. Judge for yourself. Are they praying or campaigning?” Ngige wrote, after posting the picture on his Facebook page.

In another message on Twitter, Ngige said, “Desperation can make a man do the unthinkable. It is foolhardy for the culprits at Uke to believe that they can lie successfully about an event attended by about 100,000 people. Every lie has an expiry date; the truth remains constant.

“Lies have a way of catching up with liars. These people are heartless. Their hands are soaked in blood! For the records, the church has gone on for years without incidence until the merchants of blood visited.”

But Obiano insisted that Ngige’s claims were baseless, adding that it was unfortunate that the APC candidate had decided to unfairly politicise the sad incident.

Arguing that it was not unconstitutional for a political aspirant to attend a church service, Obiano said he attended the vigil in company with Obi following an invitation from the leadership of the church.

Addressing his followers on Twitter, Obiano wrote, “I consider it necessary to talk to you about the unfortunate incident at Adoration Ground, Uke. I am convinced that it is inhuman to ever contemplate playing politics with human lives. Every life is sacred and should be treated as such.

“We should honour the dead in this circumstance by strictly addressing the incident. Attempting to up approval ratings with it is sad. In moments like this, let us be bothered about the precious lives lost, not politics. That way, we’ll be demonstrating our humanity. It is sad that this is being politicised.

“Before politics was life. There still will be life after politics. There was no single word of campaign in that service by the governor. Again, the stampede happened long after the governor left.  The stampede has got nothing to do with the governor.

“The incident was in no way connected to the governor and I. We were not even there when it happened. This is sad and I am shocked beyond words. My heart is with the families and friends of these people. May God console them specially?”

Meanwhile, the candidate of the Labour Party, Patrick Ubah, has distanced himself from the blame game. “Our prayers go out to the families of those who died in the recent tragedy at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ground,” the message on his Twitter handle read when the incident took place.

Ubah has since carried on with his campaign after he announced to his online followers that he would be holding his first live Twitter chat with them, to intimate them with his vision for the state.

 “We need to talk! Don’t miss my first live chat. Join me on November 6 (today) between 6pm – 8pm for a live Twitter chat. Use the hashtag: #IfeanyiUbahGov to follow the online conversations,” he tweeted.

-Punch