Inspector Akon (late), victim of the attack.
* But we ‘ll not take arms against our own people
* Police vow to arrest culprits
* As EDSG deny complicity
“We are under the reign of a tyrant as we speak; in the person of the Governor, Godwin Onogheghase Obaseki who is very insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of Edo people.
“He has spent the better part of his tenure doing divide and rule, arming thugs in the name of Public Works Volunteers and Edo State Security Network to take arms against our own people.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Edo State through the Monday Okpebholo and Dennis Idahosa Campaign Council Director of Publicity, Prince Kassim Afegbua made the declaration on Friday, 19 July, 2024 in Benin.
The APC bashed the Governor for incessantly being in the news for the wrong reasons, since his eight years of administration, while briefing the media on the attack against the Party’s Governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo and the Court reinstated deputy Governor of the State, Philip Shaibu.
Okpebholo in the company of Shaibu returned to the State on Thursday evening and as they were driving away from the airport amidst an army of party faithful and supporters along the ever busy airport road by Faith Medical Centre, they were ambushed by thugs suspected to be loyal to the State Government.
Suddenly, the thugs sporadically fired gun shots at the APC candidate and Shaibu in the crowd without any provocation.
Both men were however, fortunate to have escaped being killed by the whiskers.
But Okpebholo’s security detail, inspector Akon was not as fortunate; he was hit by the bullet of the thugs and died on the spot before any form of help could reach him.
Also, no less than four persons in the crowd of party faithful and supporters sustained various degrees of gun shot injury; with some on the danger list, it was said.
The APC feeling disturbed and angry about the development, roundly condemned Obaseki and the gang, for what it termed; tyrannical and undemocratic tendencies.
“As a Governor, he should be a Governor for his party and the opposition parties, also the people who are not members of any of the political parties.
“As a Governor and Chief security officer of the State, it is his responsibility to provide security to lives and property of the people and ensure that there is a smooth interplay of forces in all our legitimate aspirations.
“But when you have a Governor who has set up Edo Security Network, arming them in such a way that they now take up shooting our fellow Edo indigenes and citizens, it calls to question the morality behind power play.”
The APC said it chose to remain calm in the face of deliberate provocation by the Obaseki’s led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration “because we have talked to our people that winning this election is going to be a smooth sail.
“We don’t need to take up arms against anybody because the ultimate goal for our people is to see a smooth transition that will ease this tyrannical Government and succeed it with a more empathetic, passionate, humble government with rich emotional intelligence who can connect with the people and harmony and unity within the rank and file of the citizenry.
“So, we are not going to take arms against our own people; we have listened to narratives, I must thank the media for helping to authenticate the true perspective of the issues.
“And what are the true issues? That our candidate came in yesterday, (Thursday, 18 July, 2024) of course he came in with the deputy Governor of the State, Hon. Philip Shaibu and right at the exit of the airport, they fell into the ambush of Governor Obaseki’s killer squad; called Public Works Volunteers.
“I have repeatedly said this time and time again; I have written in my articles that the Public Works Volunteers have been receiving training at the Edo Hotel near the Government House, Prince Afegbua said.
“And what they intend to do is to purchase power bikes for them to use on election day; they will be an alternative to the police and at the end of the day visit mayhem on the people in the name of rigging the election.
“But just like I said, nobody has a monopoly to violence, it is our duty to continue to expose them.
“But for the intervention of God and not man, our candidate, Monday Okpebholo would have been killed yesterday, (Thursday, 18 July, 2024).
“We have received an intelligence report more than ten days ago that our candidate is a soft target because they see him coasting home to victory in September and the only way a desperado, the only way a tyrant of a Governor can get his way and plant his successor, anointed candidate in Government House is to spill blood.
“And we would resist it using legitimate means by conveying our grave reservations to the appropriate authorities; the Inspector General of Police, Directorate of the State Security Service, Civil Defence and every other security agency to keep an eye on what is happening within the confines of Government.”
The APC mourning the killing of inspector Akon; security detail to its candidate in the forthcoming Governorship election, in strong terms condemned the role allegedly played by the Edo State Police Commissioner, Funsho Adegboye.
“We have listened to the very laborious statement of the State Commissioner of Police and we say it is quite unfortunate.
“Yesterday, we have eye witnesses; our people, four of them have documented statements with the State intelligence department, they have written a statement detailing their eye witness account stating copiously that the State Commissioner of Police was right at the airport.
“And there was information conveyed to him by two or three of our persons that they are hearing some unholy movement at the exit gate of the airport.
“And what the Commissioner of Police could do, rather than mobilize his men to arrest the situation before our candidate came out of the airport, he escaped through the entry gate of the airport; that means he was aware of what was happening.
“He had spoken earlier to the deputy Governor of the State, Philip Shaibu asking him; where is your destination, where are you going from the airport and he answered; I am going to take my office as validly given to me by the Federal High Court, a consequential order, a declarative judgement which simply means obey before complain and that you shouldn’t ask me where I am going and that you should provide for us security to go resume my office.
“Each time, the Commissioner of Police would take a step backward to go receive phone calls ostensibly calling the powers that be in the State.
“So we are accusing him very strongly that it was quite unfortunate that a senior law enforcement officer of the magnitude of the Commissioner of Police could be informed of an impending break down of law and order and he couldn’t act.”
Pointing out that the police are constitutionally empowered to maintain the law and order, the Party held; “so, the Commissioner of Police was very complicit in what happened.
“We took the corpse of inspector Akon and we proceeded on a peaceful match to the State Police Command and the Commissioner of Police refused to come out to address us.
“Rather, it was the AIG Zone 5 who came to address the gathering assuring that the relevant authorities would take appropriate action having conducted their investigation.
“Consequently, the
APC, Edo State has written a petition to the IG, copied the President, the VP, the Senate President, Speaker, Federal House of Reps, the DSS, Civil Defence, the Attorney general of the Federation and minister of justice explaining copiously in detail what transpired yesterday (Thursday), and what we want to be seen happening in order to have an atmosphere of tranquility in the build up to the September 21 election.
“The Party’s petition is about a case of murder of a serving police officer; inspector Akon attached to APC Governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo and vicious attack on innocent persons by thugs inflicting serious body injury and harm.”
“As typical of the Government of the day in Edo State, when the incident happened, by 5:30 in the evening, the Governor escaped to Abuja.
“So when they ask him question; he would say, I was not in the State but we saw him; we have our intel, we saw him at the airport when he was leaving by 5:30 yesterday and we are told that he will have gone to the IG to tell stories, stories that touch the heart and will go twist the whole logic of what happened yesterday.”
Further, the Party held; “if this attack and shooting was not orchestrated by the Government, then it is a failure of the entire security architecture in the State.”
As it noted, “it is the constitutional responsibility of the Government to provide security for life and property for which the State Government gets the sum of N950m monthly from the Federal Government.
“In spite of this huge sum, we still have kidnapping in Edo State, we have all manners of armed robbery, all manners of killings.”
Responding to the narrative of the State Government accusing Philip Shaibu of being the mastermind of Thursday’s shooting and killing, Kassim wondered;
“How can a man who is rejoicing, celebrating with his supporters about the Court judgement which reinstated him as the deputy Governor of Edo State will be the one to organise that kind of attack against himself and supporters?
“To the extent that he and our candidate escaped death by the whiskers and his security detail was shot dead? It doesn’t add up,” he added.
“We have listened to the Government House vuvuzelas who are trying to say that we were the ones who orchestrated our attack.
“How does one orchestrate an attack on himself to the extent that one’s own security operative will be killed?
“So when the Government speaks, it’s clear that they are complicit in the entire shenanigan and the entire scenario.
“It is not that we don’t have the capacity to stand them, but we don’t want to; we are very civilised and exposed people; but we don’t want to behave like gangsters, and tyrants who are occupying Dennis Osadebay House.
“We are prepared for this election, it is those who are not prepared, those who are afraid of their shadows are the ones orchestrating all manner of violence.
The APC therefore demands the immediate disbandment of the Edo State Security Network, Vigilante and the Public Work Volunteers, “all of which are Governor Godwin Obaseki’s killer squad.”
As the party called on the Police authority to effect the arrest of all the persons listed as suspected mastermind of the dastardly act to serve as deterrent to any criminal minded person irrespective of the political party leaning; that this election is all about superior arguments and not by bullet.
On behalf of the APC, the Okpebholo and Idahosa Campaign Council expressed its heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim of Thursday’s shooting; inspector Akon, as it also sincerely sympathised with the wounded.
“The Candidate of the APC, Senator Monday Okpebholo has promised that he would take care of his children and wife, grant the children education scholarship up to the University level.”
He further disclosed, that Okpebholo has gone to see the victims who sustained various degrees of gun shot injury from the attack; at the hospitals they are admitted for medical attention.
“He has promised to pay their medical bills,” Prince Afegbua said.
Disclosing that they are in a critical state, he said: “We are praying that they survive, because some of them are under oxygen.”
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