Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, on Sunday narrated how he narrowly
escaped death in the hands of suspected assassins in the Etsako West Local
Government Area of the state.
Odubu,
a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress for
the September 10 governorship election in Edo State, was reportedly attacked on
Saturday by some armed thugs on his way to Auchi to meet with party delegates
in the area.
The
thugs were allegedly paid N1m to carry out the act.
Odubu,
who is said to currently have a frosty relationship with Governor Adams
Oshiomhole due to his governorship ambition, was said to have been denied
access to the APC secretariat at Fugar on Saturday.
He
was said to have left for Auchi and was meeting with some delegates when the
suspected thugs suddenly appeared and opened fire on the gathering, leaving
several persons injured, including a policeman and an operative of the
Department of State Services.
Odubu,
who spoke through the Odubu Campaign Organisation on Sunday, during a press
briefing in Benin, said he had to be shielded inside a hall to avoid “direct
bullet contacts”.
The
campaign organisation added, “Surprisingly, at Auchi, the deputy governor and
his team met with passionate, patriotic (and) huge number of delegates but no
sooner had the meeting begun that gunmen opened fire outside the secretariat on
both security men and members of the deputy governor’s entourage and
delegates.”
It
noted that although the attack was “orchestrated directly at his person” and
geared towards disrupting the aims of the campaign, seven persons sustained
varying degrees of injuries and were receiving treatment at the University of
Benin Teaching hospital.
Speaking
on behalf of the organisation, a former Minority Whip in the House of
Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, listed the victims to include a DSS
operative, Patrick Amakiri; his escort police commander, Inspector Agge Felix;
and a driver, Zibiri Yakubu.
Osagie
explained that preliminary investigation revealed three principal suspected
masterminds of the attack.
He
described the attack as an act of cowardice “perpetrated by those who dread a
free, fair and credible democratic contest” and an attempt to compel the deputy
governor “to quit the governorship race or be eliminated”.
Osagie
called on the national leadership of the APC to intervene in the ongoing
development in the state.
“This,
to us, is the height of naked display of cruelty, animosity, acrimony,
intolerance, gross irresponsibility and man’s inhumanity to man,” he added.
The
leadership of the state chapter of the APC condemned the attack on the deputy
governor, calling it “absolute madness”, which had become “endemic” in the
party.
The
state APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Godwin Erhahon, stated this in a statement
on Sunday.
Erhahon
added, “I am not a member of any campaign organisation; I am not a supporter of
any aspirant.
“Therefore,
I am here to also condemn what happened yesterday at Auchi on behalf of all the
APC members and leaders who are not yet infested with the ongoing madness that
has become endemic in the party.
“What
happened yesterday was absolute madness. I think we should pray for them
(perpetrators) so that sanity can come into them, otherwise, they will end up
destroying themselves.”
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