Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has refuted the claim by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole, that thugs had attacked his state residence.
The Governor, through his media aide, advised Mr Oshiomhole, a former Edo State Governor, to observe protocols when visiting the State, saying that he does not inform his office, the Commissioner of Police or State Director of the Department of State Service (DSS) while on visits.
According to the Governor, who spoke through his special adviser on Media, Communication and Public Affairs, Mr Crusoe Osagie, Mr Oshiomhole has a penchant for using “thugs” for security when he visits the state, rather than state security agents.
The Governor however maintained that he has no knowledge of the alleged attack on Mr Oshiomhole’s residence, emphasising the primacy of the official report of the Commissioner of Police, DanMallam Muhammed, over any unconfirmed or uncorroborated report.
He called on government functionaries and political office holders to be circumspect in commenting on allegations of attacks against the former governor.
Mr Oshiomhole’s Chief Press Secretary, Simon Ebegbulem, and the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, had last weekend issued statements alleging an attack on the National Chairman’s residence in Benin City, claiming that the Governor’s officials had sponsored the attack.
The Edo State Police Commissioner however debunked the allegations in a statement, which read: “To the best of my knowledge, no one had access to the house of the National Chairman. When he came into the State, we beefed up security around him, from his house to the Oba’s palace, from there to the airport before he left for Abuja.
“Let me use this medium to warn troublemakers that Edo State is very peaceful and calm. The State is the most peaceful in the South-South region. We will do everything according to the law to ensure that the peace the people of Edo State enjoy is not truncated, and any attempt by anyone to cause trouble in the State will be resisted with maximum force.”
Reacting officially to the attack claims, the Governor’s aide, in a statement issued in Abuja, said that the Commissioner of Police was in the best position to issue an official report on any attack on the APC leader, and that the security forces in Edo State had done so dispassionately.
According to him, “Oshiomhole has the intention of escalating the security situation in Edo State as he has said in the past that he was going to make the state ungovernable.
“When he wants to come to the state, he does not inform the Governor, the Police or the DSS, but the thugs. As a former governor, he ought to be informing the Governor and security agencies each time he is coming into the State
“The Commissioner of Police has declared the state peaceful, but Oshiomhole and his cohorts were bent on making it ungovernable…
“Oshiomhole, as a former Governor, should not undermine the capacity and integrity of the Police unless… he is looking for anarchy in the state,” the statement read.