The 14 estranged Edo State lawmakers-elect have told Nigerians to hold Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, responsible if the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, is killed.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, spokesperson of the group, who represents Esan Central, Victor Edoror, pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari, party’s National Leader, Bola Tinubu, and the Progressives Governors’ Forum not to fold their hands and allow Governor Obaseki killer-squad kill the APC chairman.
The group further accused the Edo governor of fuelling the crisis in the state and frustrating all the peace efforts
“There have been series of attacks on members of APC across the state on different occasions just because they bear opposing views from that of Governor Obaseki and the government of the day in Edo. Homes of most leaders of the APC in Edo State have been marked for demolition by Governor Obaseki.
“Several petitions written to the IGP from June 18, 2019 after the attack on us in Benin, yet nobody has been held responsible for it.
“We want to believe that because leaders of our party across the country have failed to call Governor Obaseki to order, he has been further emboldened to kill everybody due to his desperate ambition for a second term.
“He has recruited a killer squad in Edo State and their mandate is to kill Oshiomhole and other APC leaders. So, he has continued to create crisis and disrupt the public peace.
“IGP should wake up to his responsibility of protecting lives, properties and maintaining public peace in Edo State by standing against infringement on rights of Edo people. We beg him to advise the Edo commissioner of police to be professional in his duty.”
But, in a swift reaction, Governor Obaseki said on the contrary, Oshiomhole was the one creating crisis and disrupting peace and safety.
In a statement by his spokesman, Obaseki claimed Oshiomhole along with other dissidents who were members of the Edo People’s Movement (EPM) have been making frantic efforts to make Edo ungovernable.
“They have been setting fire to market places and public buildings and creating all sorts of chaos in the state.
The state government has warned that the embattled national chairman and his co-dissidents in the EPM, are hellbent on causing a breakdown of law and order in the state.
“Oshiomhole has disobeyed orders by the police at the federal and state levels not to hold public gatherings against the directives of the state government.
His actions have led to the hospitalisation of tens of Edo people and the destruction of properties valued in millions of naira.
“From Edo South to Edo North, he has traded in violence and left many in anguish in the wake of his strong-headed approach to entrenching himself as a godfather in the state. Even with this, he has not relented, but rather continues to fan the embers of division, acting as if he is above the law in the state.
“We call on the IGP and the Presidency to call Oshiomhole to order. His ambition to become a godfather in Edo State is not worth the safety of the four million people in our state.”
Meanwhile, crisis rocking the state chapter of APC, turned bloody yesterday as a top member of the party, Henry Idahagbon narrowly escaped death as gunmen suspected to be hired assassins attacked him in his office.
Two persons were, however, said to have sustained bullet injuries during the attack.
One of those injured and said to be APC ward chairman, was said to have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital for medical treatment.
Besides, restaurant at the ground floor of the building was severely damaged by the rampaging gunmen.
Idahagbon, a former attorney general and commissioner for justice, said the gunmen, who came in three vehicles, fired several shots at his office located on Siluko Road.