Several persons including a pregnant woman and a seven months baby sustained various degrees of injuries as some young men believed to be supporters of the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Blessing Agbebaku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have allegedly attacked members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ward II, Uhunmora, Owan West local government area.

Besides, the attackers were allegedly backed by security men allegedly from the residence of Agbebaku. The incident was said to have happened on Saturday.

Narrating the incident on Monday, the chairman of APC in the ward, Ogunlowo Collins, an amputee said the shop of David Iruedo who is the ward Secretary of the party was attacked and destroyed and injuries inflicted on him and others because he refused to defect from the APC after an unprovoked attacked earlier in the day when one Odion Kelvin removed the cap an APC woman was wearing and set it on fire.

He said they were expecting a visitor who is a chieftain of the APC when the incident on the pregnant woman who is the wife of Collins happened and that the issue was settled thereafter after some people intervened.

He said “Later in the evening, he came to the shop of David Iruedo who they have been pressurizing to cross over to the PDP with over 40 boys, they came backed with security men from the Speaker’s house, they were shouting that they have been told to kill all APC men in Ward II, they came with machetes, clubs with nails on them, they broke into his store, from the store to the inner room and the last room and beat the boy to stupor and left for dead and left before we came to rescue him to the hospital, they were moving from one house to another shooting guns till in the evening with Blessing’s official vehicle chasing APC members from one place to another.

“There was another boy who they used plank with nails to pierce his head while another was hit with another plank on the head and he collapsed before we rushed him to the hospital. We were at the police station and they only said we should incident what happened,” he added.

APC demands arrest of Agbebaku

The APC in a statement on Monday evening demanded that the Speaker should be arrested and prosecuted for electoral violence.

In a statement by the Acting State Chairman of the party, Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, the party said the incident happened exactly one week after it raised an alarm on “some heinous plans” to disrupt the election by Agbebaku but that no action was taken by security agencies.

The statement claimed that eye witnesses identified some of the attackers Lucky Omon, Kelvin Ojo Omon, Lucy Unuigbe, Hon. Tunde Akele, and many others alleging that the four and one Imoudu Unuigbe were allegedly involved in the July shootings in Benin City that led to the killing of a policeman, Akor Onu.

“Our party subscribes to a peaceful electoral exercise, but will not restrain its members from exercising their rights to self defense, including retaliation, if the security agencies fail to rein in Agbebaku and his sponsored thugs,” he added.

Speaker’s reaction

A statement by Agbebaku denied the allegation saying it was a beer parlour brawl between people that have personal issues.

He said “We are in the era of electioneering campaign and it is a fact that the Speaker has overwhelmed the APC and the Labour Party with his proven records of developmental strides across the Owan Nation, hence, decided to come up with a ‘strategy’ to rope the Speaker in their mess and smear his name.

“We have also received confirmed reports of a plot by the APC to arrest Mr. Speaker and take him to Abuja before the September 21 governorship election, since victory is not in sight for them.

“However in all of this Mr. Speaker is not deterred as he has called on all Owan indigenes to join him in peaceful campaigns for more development and progress of the Owan Nation,” the statement added. (Vanguard)

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