…Okpebholo, hospitalised
By: Emmanuel Abi Couson
A policeman, Inspector Onu Ako, was killed on Thursday during a homecoming reception for the reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu.
The policeman was attached to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, in the forthcoming September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor who confirmed the incident, said it occurred at 11 am along the Airport Road in the state, shortly after the entourage left the Benin Airport.
He announced that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, has issued a stern warning on political thuggery, noting that anyone culpable will be made to face the law.
He vowed that the killers of the policeman would be fished out and brought to book.
The APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have traded words over the killing of the officer.
Shaibu, whose efforts to get the governorship ticket of the PDP didn’t yield results, had declared support for APC’s Okpebholo against PDP’s Asue Ighodalo.
Shaibu, who has a running battle with Governor Godwin Obaseki, returned to Edo State on Thursday after his reinstatement as Edo deputy governor by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, months after he was impeached by the state assembly.
Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.
The court also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office.
However, a statement signed by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, blamed Shaibu for the incident.
The statement reads, “The Edo State Government has observed the level of wanton destruction perpetrated by thugs and elements working in connivance with former Deputy Governor of the State, Philip Shaibu, in the guise of purportedly enforcing a judgment reinstating him in office.
“Shaibu led thugs through the Airport Road axis of Benin City, attacking innocent citizens and unleashing mayhem on private citizens who are going about their lawful businesses.
“The State Government, through this statement, is warning Shaibu to desist from this turn to violence in the pretence that he is enforcing a judgment. He is reminded that he is not above the law and is liable for the wanton destruction perpetrated by him and his co-travelers.
“Shaibu’s violent tendencies are well documented, and he has been warned at different times by respected figures of society, including the revered Benin Monarch, to shun violence.
“We want to reiterate that Shaibu will face the consequences of violence that he has resorted to in pursuit of his aim to return to the Edo State Government House even when he is aware that a stay of execution of the judgment has been filed.
“We enjoin the general public to be calm and go about their lawful businesses as government will continue to deploy the instrumentality of the state to restore and maintain law and order in the State in the face of undue provocation,” the statement noted
However, Okpebholo’s aide, Godswill Inegbe, said a prominent former member of the APC, who recently resigned from the party, led the attack against his principal and Shaibu.
He said, “This (Thursday) afternoon, the motorcade of Senator Monday Okpebholo, the APC governorship candidate, was brutally attacked by members of Edo State Security Network and Edo State government-sponsored thugs allegedly led by a former prominent member of the APC.
“During the unprovoked brutal attack, three mobile policemen attached to the security detail of Senator Okpebholo were injured with bullet wounds, while one of the policemen has been declared dead!
“Senator Monday Okpebholo is at this moment admitted in an undisclosed hospital in Benin receiving medical attention, and other members of his entourage who were victims of the brutal attack are in various hospitals in Benin City.”
A close associate of Shaibu, Sunny Okomayin, said the police lost his life when the convoy of Shaibu and Okpebholo was attacked by state-sponsored thugs.
He said Shaibu’s supporters were at the airport to well the reinstated deputy governor peacefully, only for gunmen to open fire on the convoy as soon as it exited the airport.
“Shaibu cannot be blamed for the fracas. His supporters came to the airport to receive after Wednesday judgement. He was attacked alongside Okpebholo as soon as he exited the airport. The narrative being pushed by the government is false,” he added.
