How Thugs Attacked Edo Lawmakers
Category: Nigerian National News
By Sunday Aborisade & Alexander Okere
By Sunday Aborisade & Alexander Okere
Members of the Edo State House of Assembly on Monday recounted their
ordeal in the hands of political thugs that attacked their quarters in
Benin on Saturday.
Two of them – Folly Ogedengbe and Adjoto Kabiru – who were among
those that took turns to speak during Monday’s plenary, said the
attackers operated like Boko Haram insurgents.
Others accused the Peoples Democratic Party leadership in the state
of sponsoring the mayhem and alleged that the state police command was
complicit in the crime.
Ogedengbe, who spoke under matter of urgent public importance, said,
“The armed thugs came in a Boko Haram style and shot sporadically at
every building they saw.”
He added that his 85-year-old mother was in his home when the
hoodlums shot his bedroom windows and at every door in his apartment
for over 25 minutes.
The lawmaker added, “I thought the world was coming to an end. But
the Almighty God saved me and my family. In fact, My 85-year-old
mother was inside my home with me.
“The attack was initiated by PDP leaders and some of them are already celebrating their victory on television.”
In his contribution, Kabiru said the attackers came “in a commando-like manner” in batches.
He said, “I saw them from a vantage position because my house is just
about 500 metres from the main gate of the Legislators’ Quarters.
“I saw them all. They came in batches and were led by policemen.
As they were entering, somebody was giving them order by pointing at
houses.
“One of the police officers wore a bulletproof vest, boots and black trousers.
“What is worrisome is that the police have degenerated into the military wing of the PDP.”
Claiming that there was another plot by the masterminds of the attack
to trace the lawmakers to their respective constituencies, Ogedengbe,
who is the assembly’s chief whip urged the assembly leadership to inform
the Oba of Benin that the lives of the lawmakers were in danger.
Another legislator, Michael Ohio-Ozomo, described the scene of the incident as a battleground.
He specifically lamented the level of destruction visited on
Ogedengbe’s home by the hoodlums and called on politicians to
embrace peace.
He said, “ When I got into the quarters, I stopped by the Chief
Whip’s residence. It was like a war zone. I saw spent cartridges and
bullets on floor. Looking at the level of destruction, I asked myself:
‘Is this what we are supposed to be doing to ourselves? That a man I
spoke with only a few minutes had gone though such an ordeal?
“It’s about time that we asked ourselves, ‘Is this the kind of politics that we want to play?’
The Speaker, Uyi Igbe,who also lamented the incident, said it was
regrettable that the police which was aware of the plot withdrew their
men and officers from the quarters.
“I think what is more worrisome is the fact that the police were
aware that this attack will take place and rather than beef up security,
they actually withdrew security and left only one policeman there.
“So, it shows the police complicity in the attack. One wonders if
writing a petition to the police would not amount to wasting our time.
Instead of being Nigeria Police Force, it’s now PDP Police Force and
it’s unfortunate. I think something has to be done.”
The Deputy Speaker, Victor Edoror, said the attackers threatened to revisit them and urged his colleagues to be on the alert.
The Majority Leader of the assembly, Philip Shaibu, claimed that the
thugs were mandated by their sponsors to kill at least two lawmakers in
the quarters.
He singled out a chieftain of the PDP in the state as the brains
behind the attack and alleged that the police were informed of the plot.
Shaibu said he was detained by the police even after reporting himself to them.
He said, “The attack was planned in the office of a PDP chieftain and
when the meeting was over, the Police were adequately informed.
The mandate they had was to kill at least two of us.
“As we speak, all those that were involved in this attack are still on the streets walking freely.’’
The majority leader,who claimed that his son and himself were
hurt in the attack, advised that a petition be sent to President
Goodluck Jonathan, the Inspector-General of Police, the office of the
State Security Service and the military formation in the state.
Another lawmaker, Bamidele Oloruntoba said, “I came out that
morning to warm my car. It was then that they burst into my premises.
One of them said, “That’s one of the assembly members. When I heard
that, I took cover.
The only female member of the assembly, Elizabeth Ative, said she was
about travelling out of Benin with her uncle when the attackers
arrived.
“I was about to travel with my uncle for the memorial of his
brother-in-law. But when I stepped out, I remembered that we had not
said our morning prayer.
‘‘So, I quickly went back inside and called my family members for
prayer. But when I came out and entered my car, the gate was flung open
and I heard ‘look at them; look at them.’
“When we ran into the building before my own, we noticed that it
had also been invaded. I saw all of the attackers. They came from the
PDP. I know all of them.
Ative urged youths to resist the temptation of being used by politicians to perpetrate violence.
The lawmaker, who called for the removal of the state police
commissioner , challenged the PDP to test its popularity at the polls.
Also, Paul Ohonbamu, who described the invasion as an act of
cowardice, said he “saw sorrow, tears and blood in the quarters.’’
He said, “It was after the damage had been done that the police came;
the governor even got there before the Commissioner of Police.
“What happened on Saturday does not call for celebration. Rather, the
sponsors of the attack failed woefully because it was an act of
cowardice.”
Johnson Oghuma said, “I had sounded a note of warning. I was taken
aback that day when the police commissioner strolled into the quarters
by noon.
“If the President will not question the commissioner of police or replace him, then he is inviting trouble.’’
After their contributions, the lawmakers passed a motion raised by
Ogedengbe calling on the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of
Police and the DSS to investigate and prosecute all those involved in
the incident.
In the four-prayer motion, Ogedengbe informed the assembly that the
Speaker, the Majority Leader and himself had been invited by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to appear at its Abuja head
office on Wednesday.
He called for a proper investigation of the role of the Edo State Police Command in the attack.
Subsequently, the Speaker ordered that a clean copy of the resolution
be sent to the office of the President, the IG, the AIG (Zone 5), the
state police commissioner, the state Director and the Director-General
of the DSS.
Also to receive the resolution are the state governor, the Oba of Benin and the NSA.
About 36 cars and seven buildings were vandalised by the thugs.
Oba of Benin cautions politicians
Meanwhile, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, has
called on politicians in the state to “refrain from politics of
bitterness.
The monarch, who expressed worry over the rate of political thuggery
and violence across the country by supporters of political parties,
urged political leaders to “be mindful of the fact that only the
living can play politics and not the dead.”
“As political leaders, you are supposed to show good examples for the
younger generations to emulate, rather than recruit them as thugs,” the
royal father advised in a statement by the Information Office of
the Benin Traditional Council.
The Oba directed the Enogie, chiefs, Igiohen and Edionwere in Benin Kingdom to pray for peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.
APC indicts police
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has condemned the attack on
the legislative quarters and alleged police complicity in the act.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed, lamented that the attack reminded Nigerians of the
level of impunity witnessed last in the dark days the of the military.
The APC insisted that the incident had police backing because of the ease with which the thugs invaded the quarters .
It added, ‘’Governor Oshiomhole said the government got
intelligence report on the attack and informed the state Police
Commissioner. Instead of sending in reinforcement to prevent the attack,
the few policemen attached to the quarters were withdrawn .”
The party described as a dangerous phenomenon, a situation whereby
the Police would appear to be partisan and carry out only actions that
would favour the ruling party at the federal level, to the detriment of
the other political interests.
The party alleged that the police were used to harass Governor Rotimi
Amaechi, while they stood by while thugs beat up judges and sacked
courts in Ekiti State.
It also claimed that the PDP-led Federal Government had used the
police and other security agents to prevent the re-opening of the Ekiti
courts despite the order by the National Judicial Council.
It also lamented that the police offered protection to PDP lawmakers
in Edo State at the expense of the majority, while the crisis in the
assembly lasted.
The statement reads in part, ‘’The IG takes orders only from the
President. Therefore, where the President decides to turn the police to
his personal militia for use in vindictive and vendetta attacks,the IG
is not only required to comply; he is also expected to pass the same
orders down the hierarchy.
“This is what is happening across the country. The danger, however,
is that when a society descends into anarchy,the same police will not
escape the consequences, and will also not be able to handle the outcome
of its collusion as professionalism would have deserted it and
discipline compromised.”
The APC said the attack on the legislative quarters would have been
prevented if the thugs who molested Oshiomhole and some top officials
of his administration, when they went to the airport to receive
Jonathan a few days earlier, had been censured.
It said, ‘’By failing to sanction them accordingly, the powers that
be, have simply given a seal of approval to their actions and empowered
them to do more, hence they became emboldened to attack the legislative
quarters.
The party called on the international community to “pay a very close
attention to the impunity in Nigeria, especially ahead of next year’s
general elections.”
It said, “It can only be imagined what role the police and other
security agencies that have been heavily compromised will play during
the elections.
“It is therefore imperative for the international observers who will
be coming for the elections to take this into consideration in their
report on the processes before, during and after the elections.”
Source
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