A lady identified as Winnie Miller has rejected a payment of N2.5 million allegedly transferred to her account by the chairman of Ahoada Local Government Area in Rivers State, Cheta Epelle, following allegations that she was assaulted after speaking out about the condition of a public school in her community.
In an update shared on her Facebook page hours after the alleged incident, Miller disclosed that the sum of N2.5 million had been paid into her bank account by the council chairman.
She, however, stated that she did not request any financial settlement and had not agreed to accept compensation over the matter.
According to her, the payment was made without her consent and she considered it an attempt to influence the situation.
Miller added that she had begun efforts to return the money to the sender but had not been able to complete the process due to network challenges affecting banking transactions at the time.
The matter has since attracted attention online, with calls from some members of the public for a thorough investigation into the allegations surrounding the incident.
BACKGROUND
A lady identified as Winnie Mila has accused the chairman of Ahoada West Local Government Area in Rivers State, Eugene Chita Epelle, of orchestrating an assault against her after she shared images and videos highlighting the poor condition of a government secondary school in her community.
Mila had earlier posted a video on social media on March 1 showing the deteriorating state of a secondary school located in Oduoku community in Ahoada West.
In the video, she called attention to the state of the facility and appealed to local authorities to intervene and improve the learning environment for students.
According to her, the school building was in a state of disrepair and lacked basic facilities needed for effective teaching and learning.
She stated that the institution required classroom furniture, writing boards, window fittings and general renovation.
Mila also reported that the school lacked electricity and had an insufficient number of teachers. She further noted that while the school previously had more than 1,000 students enrolled, the number had significantly reduced in recent years.
The situation reportedly escalated after the video gained traction online. Mila later alleged during a press briefing that the council chairman visited her residence around midday on Sunday and confronted her family over the video.
She claimed that the chairman expressed displeasure over the social media post, stating that it had attracted numerous calls and criticism regarding the state of the school.
Mila further alleged that individuals accompanying the chairman entered her compound and physically attacked her during the incident. She said the confrontation resulted in injuries before neighbours intervened.
The lady also alleged that the incident occurred in the presence of security personnel accompanying the council chairman.
Winnie in the video said; “So as we all know, the future of this country is in the hands of these youths. And if they don’t have a solid background in education, then our future will be jeopardized. So we are calling on the chairman, Honorable Eugene Chita Epelle, the deputy chairman of Ahoada West, to come to the rescue of these children. They need school chairs. They need boards.
“They need windows. They need general renovations. The school don’t have electricity. They don’t even have teachers. Before now, they had over 1,000 students in the school but right now. They cannot even boast of 100.
‘’The Chairman, Hon Eugene Chita Epelle who is the executive chairman of Ahoda West, came to my house on Sunday around 12 noon, confronted my mother, telling her that I want to damage his image online and that I made a post about the Secondary school and that the video has made him to get several calls from several persons. That I have insulted his office. For that, he instructed his brother, Monday Chita Epelle, to beat me and teach me a lesson. Monday pushed my gate, came into my compound and started beating me. If not for the intervention of my neighbors, he would have succeeded in k!lling me like he said. He str@ngled my neck. I still have neck injuries up till now.
As of the time of filing this report, the chairman of Ahoada West Local Government Area had not publicly responded to the allega tions.
