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| APC National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole |
Edo State government on Monday said a purported siege to the home of All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole never happened.
It said the safety of Oshiomhole, a former governor of the state, was of utmost importance to the state.
The government urged the former governor to notify it and the state APC chapter whenever he planned to visit so that adequate security arrangements could be made for him.
Oshiomhole on Sunday accused the state government of orchestrating Saturday’s siege to his Benin home.
His spokesman Simon Ebegbulem alleged that the government sent over 50 thugs to his house who sang war songs as they blocked the entrance of his gate until security agents intervened.
But, the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, said in a statement on Monday that its attention was drawn to reports of “activities of some unscrupulous elements attempting to create a resurgence of the menace of thuggery in the state”.
He said the government would not tolerate acts of hooliganism.
The statement reads in part: “On October 10, 2019, some hoodlums invaded a meeting of the APC in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area (LGA).
“This was followed by an attack on the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Taiwo Akerele, at Protea Hotel on October 12, 2019.
“This development is most unfortunate and condemnable. As a government, we condemn it in its entirety.
“This administration will not tolerate the resurgence of thuggery or hooliganism in any form or guise in our state.
“We have worked extremely hard to ensure that opportunities are created for all citizens to leverage on government initiatives and earn a living legitimately without resort to crime and criminality.”
On Oshiomhole, the statement adds: “The government wishes to reiterate the comment of the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Dan Mallam Muhammed to the effect that the purported attack ‘never happened’.
“Government also wishes to stress that in Edo State, tangible investment has been made to enhance security for our citizens. It is not an accident that Edo is considered as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.”
Ogie said as chairman of the ruling party and a former governor, Oshomhole is a national figure whose safety “is of utmost importance to us as a government”.
He added: “Accordingly, it is expected that the state government and the state chapter of the APC would be put on notice whenever the National Chairman desires to visit the state so that adequate security and logistics are made and courtesies deserving of his status are accorded throughout his stay.
“However, the government also expects that the National Chairman would make reasonable effort to ensure that hoodlums do not take advantage of his presence to unleash mayhem on innocent members of the public or create tension where none exists.
“Government wishes to state emphatically that Edo State is peaceful. Accordingly, the government advises citizens to go about their normal duties and ignore attempts by the enemies to destabilise the state under any guise.”
Ebegbulem claimed that the action at Oshiomhole’s home was part of the resolution reached at the last Exco meeting that all those opposed to Obaseki’s second term bid be attacked.
Governor Godwin Obaseki’s spokesman Mr Crusoe Osagie said no such attack happened in the area where Oshiomhole lives.
He said: “The Edo State government has said it has no knowledge of the purported attack on the person or residence of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
“We have no knowledge of the attack. We have also reached out to the police, and they affirmed that they do not know about such an attack.”
Edo Police Commissioner San Mallam Abubakar denied there was an attack. He said some persons at the party chairman’s home planning a protest were dispersed.
