The Edo State Commissioner of Police, DanMallam
Muhammed, has restated the state Police Command's position that there was no
attack on the person or residence of former state Governor and National
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole.
This is coming as a human rights activist, Patrick
Eholor, on Monday appealed to the state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and Oshiomhole
to shun acts likely to stir bloodbath in the state, and unite for peace,
progress and development ahead of the 2020 governorship election in the state.
Meanwhile, the police commissioner, who said this
in a chat with journalists on Monday, debunked allegations of an attack on the
former governor, as he warned troublemakers to steer clear of the state.
He said the police beefed up security around the
APC national chairman when he visited to the state, during which no attack was
recorded.
"To the best of my knowledge, no one had
access to the house of the APC 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 of Nigeria. Therefore, we will do everything according to
the law to ensure that the peace the people of the state enjoy is not truncated,
and any attempt by anyone to cause trouble in the state would be resisted with
maximum force," Muhammed stated.
A Chieftain of the APC in the state, Charles
Idahosa, described the allegations as efforts by unscrupulous elements to heat
up the polity “so that evil elements can have their way.”
According to him, "The state Commissioner of
Police has come out to state categorically that there was no such attack on
Oshiomhole. The state government has also denied knowledge of such attack. But these
people keep insisting that the former governor was attacked. They have brought
in other actors to corroborate what never happened. That is the height of the spread
of fake news.
"It is obvious that they are concocting these
attacks to get public sympathy. They should quit the charade. We want to warn
them not to heat up the polity. The Edo State Government is led by a man who puts
a premium on law and order as can be seen in Obaseki's numerous reforms as well
as other public engagements."
Another party chieftain, Dr. Peter Ologun, said it
was regrettable that a national chairman of the ruling party would resort to
spreading fake news to draw sympathy to himself.
Insisting that it was instructive that the police
have come out to debunk the allegation, he said: "We are very certain that
the state government has nothing to do with the supposed attack, which I am
sure never happened.
"A man of Oshiomhole's calibre shouldn't be a
party to such an act of calumny. Edo remains a peaceful state, as the
Commissioner of Police has stated in his criticism of the allegations. So we
caution against spreading of fake news and misinformation to cause unwarranted
tension."
Also, Mr. Oteghe Adams, another stalwart of the
APC, said the matter is a case of crying wolf where there is none, urging
political actors to be circumspect when they angle for political relevance.
Adams stated: "The purported attack never
happened. If such thing had happened, there would at least be some video or
pictorial evidence to show. The team spreading the fake news should know better
that."
The human rights activist, Eholor on his own,
appealed to Obaseki and Oshiomhole to
shun acts likely to stir bloodbath, asking them to unite for peace, progress
and development ahead of the 2020 governorship election in the state.
He urged the duo to desist from engaging the youths
as tools for their political gains, but to toe the path of peace, exemplary and
purposeful leadership for the benefit of all.
Eholor stated this while reacting to the alleged
attack on Oshiomhole by youths loyal to Obaseki in Benin-city.
He described as shameful last Saturday’s alleged attack
targeted at the residence of Oshiomhole, which was allegedly followed by verbal
war by both parties and near violence by supporters of the two sides over
political differences between the APC national chairman and the state governor.
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