Former Chairman of Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Dr. Eni Uduma Chima, has described as false some media reports that a fine of N80million was imposed on him by Governor Francis Nwifuru in the crisis that rocked Ekoli in the local government, the community of the politician.
There community has been under tension since three community following fresh crisis that rocked the area with lives lost and properties worth millions of naira destroyed before Governor Francis Nwifuru intervened last two weeks.
Some media reported that the Governor imposed a fine of N80million against Eni who was a also former House of Assembly member.
But the lawmaker described the media reports as malicious and falsehood.
“I am aware of a false report and malicious misinformation reported in some print media
The fictitious falsehood cobbled and dished out by mischief makers to some journalists the mischief makers have been using, mischievously claimed that following the intervention of the Ebonyi State Governor in the festering politically motivated crisis in my Ekoli-Edda community, that a certain fine of N106M allegedly imposed on me and my younger brother, Barr. Chima Uduma Chima, by a politically charged faction operating under the guise of Ekoli Band of Hope Union (our town union) leadership was reduced to N80m payable within twenty-four hours.
“It is quite unfortunate that such a defamatory piece of propaganda was published by a reputable tabloid without any attempt at verification. An oversight by the reporter which saw due diligence and objectivity which are the hallmarks of investigative journalism unscrupulously sacrificed on the altar of mammon or professional negligence to the duty of fact-finding by members of the fourth estate of the realm.
“According to the concocted repor “The Governor reduced the fine [purported] to have been imposed on me and my privy] from =N= 106 million to N80 million when he intervened in the lingering crisis rocking Ekoli-Edda saying that the money should be paid within 24 hours.”
“At the critical stakeholders meeting with the peace-loving Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru on 11th July, 2025, the security situation in Ekoli-Edda was copiously reviewed and far-reaching resolutions reached but certainly, the resolutions did not include the reduction or payment of any fine of any amount because no valid fine by a competent authority was imposed on me and my learned brother which subsisted then and now.
“The patently false narrative also claims that out of the seven submissions that I made to the Governor at the meeting on how to restore normalcy to Ekoli-Edda and move forward, that only five of them were upheld while two were turned down.
“The fact is that we extensively deliberated on everything and touched all bases, concessions were made on both sides where necessary. So, it is not a question of proposals being accepted or rejected, the truth is that we got all that we wanted out of that meeting.
“The reporter was misled to report that the rejected submissions from me included my call for the return of my Mack Truck vehicle stolen by the Catcham Boys on the instruction of the mischief makers he has been working for, and the call for the dissolution of the Town Union executives.
“The truth is that the fourth resolution in clear terms ordered that my stolen truck should be returned to me by the Catcham hoodlums with immediate effect.
“Other submissions of mine adopted at that meeting include: the nullification of the fine said to have been imposed on me and my brother, the nullification of the purported banishment of myself and my brother from our community, a warning to the traditional ruler of Ekoli-Edda to desist from petty partisanship and political alignment with parties to the conflict of interests in Ekoli-Edda or abdicate from the throne, the activation and adequate staffing of the Ekoli-Edda police station, and the big one; the disarming of the Catcham Boys as well as a decisive order banning civilians from wielding guns in Ekoli-Edda under any guise.
“The call for the dissolution of the Town Union executives was hinged on their exploitation of the nuisance value of the Catcham Boys to kill and destroy. If we got an order neutralising the miscreants, what is there in the Town Union executives to dissolve again? Their wings have been clipped and that is why I said that we got all of what we wanted, id est; containing their capacity for violence.
“This information is in the public domain including on the social media spaces and handles of untrained netizens, and accessible to any writer versed in the nuances of balanced reportage. Only a misled pen-pusher with no standards, no parameters and certainly no scruples could have recklessly gone to town with a one-sided version of a developing story without recourse to the second party or to independent confirmation.
“It is circumstances like this that inspired Chimamanda Adichie to observe that the problem with a one-sided story is that it is often either incomplete or superfluous. The truth concotted story is incomplete and the inaccuracies superfluous. It is perplexing that a ‘veteran’ reporter and a pioneer practitioner like him was conned into committing a journalistic _hara-kiri._ This is not the legacy which grounded the slogan of “Conscience Nurtured by Truth” which is the slogan of his media organization.
“There is no truth in the story by the writer who may have seemingly mortgaged his conscience for a mess of porridge”, Eni said.