The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested a man suspected of being behind the recent attack on the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
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Obi, a former governor of Edo State, Chief John Oyegun, and several chieftains and members of the opposition All Democratic Congress (ADC), were attacked on February 24 by armed men who fired several gunshots shortly after the party’s meeting in the state.
Shortly after the attack, one Udeme Monday Stephen was alleged to have posted on his X account @stevetom788, threatening further attacks on Obi.
The attack was said to have occurred shortly after the chieftains returned from the ADC secretariat, where they formally welcomed a former governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata, into the party.
Condemning the attack, a former presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, who is a chieftain of the ADC, said, “We will make a formal complaint, and I assure you that this cannot continue,” Obi told the party members in Benin City.
“We have a country, and we are part of the country. We cannot have terrorism terrorising the country and have officials in government terrorising citizens. It is unacceptable,” he added.
Similarly, the leadership of the ADC said it would neither bow nor retreat despite the attack.
“Let it be clearly understood: violence and intimidation are the weapons of those who fear the will of the people. Such actions stain our democracy and must be condemned by all who believe in freedom,” the party’s spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Governor Monday Okpebholo condemned the recent attack on members of the ADC.
Okpebholo, in a statement, described the incident as an internal party crisis that was taken too far.
The governor, while sympathising with the affected members of the party, noted that it was unfortunate that certain elements allegedly exploited the peaceful atmosphere of the state to perpetrate violence.
“As peace-loving people, the importation of thugs and miscreants from outside the state under the guise of party politics remains totally condemned and will not be tolerated going forward,” he said.
