News

Edo 2020: APC Accuses PDP, Obaseki Of Unleashing Violence Over Rally, Public Rejection

Published

4 years ago

July 25, 2020

APC Responsible For Attack On Our VIPs – PDP

The Edo State Media Campaign Council of the APC for the governorship election has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki and his party, the PDP, of unleashing violence on the people in Benin City following a confrontation in which the Governor was booed and embarrassed.

The Chairman of the Media Campaign Council, Mr. John Mayaki, in a statement released today, said “the Governor instructed his thugs to attack the people as retribution for their public booing of his arrival with various chants labeling him a thief and rejected candidate and for spurning his rally allegedly attended by tax-collectors and mobilized thugs.”

He also accused the Governor and his loyalists of destroying their own billboards at few locations in the State as a gimmick to deflect responsibility and get a reprieve for the alleged organized destruction of APC billboards after the party filed a petition with the Police and other relevant agencies.

He said: “It is sad that Mr. Godwin Obaseki, the outgoing Governor of Edo State, has, today, Saturday, July 25, displayed the same traits of intolerance and penchant for violence that made the people of Edo State unanimously reject him.

“Booed by the people at the entrance of the Palace of our great Oba for handing the State to the PDP tax collectors who are unconscionably feasting on our collective patrimony, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, as an act of revenge, instructed the thugs and cultists he has spent the past few weeks recruiting in the State and beyond to attack the people with dangerous arms.

“This criminal and heartless action not only affirms our repeated warnings that Mr. Godwin Obaseki fully intends to prosecute the election with violence and thuggery, but it also shows his lack of empathy, conscience, and respect for the lives and dignity of the people he was elected to serve.

“His thugs have presently invaded the State Capital, unleashing mayhem to anyone perceived to be critical of the failed Governor or supportive of our party and candidate. After converging at the venue of the Governor’s campaign flag-off, they have poured into the streets, vandalizing properties and causing panic. We have heard unconfirmed reports of fatal injuries.

“Furthermore, as a way to avoid responsibility and expected sanction for the undemocratic and criminal destruction of our billboards, the Governor’s thugs are going around the city, deliberately pulling down their own billboards in an orchestrated gimmick meant to portray the false impression of “violence on both sides” when in truth, the desperate Governor, in cahoots with his PDP godfathers, are the ones threatening the peace of the State.

“We condemn this action in totality and demand immediate intervention by the Police and other security agencies. Our party, the APC, has built an effective campaign on the strength of our documented manifesto. Tellingly, on the back of four years of no achievement, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has neither a plan nor record of office to show, hence the resort to violence and thuggery.

“We call on the Inspector General of Police and all well-meaning Nigerians to immediately rein on Mr. Godwin Obaseki and begin the arrest of his recruited thugs who are committed to causing chaos and violence in a bid to prevent the people, who have already voiced their rejection of Obaseki, from participating in the election freely and without intimidation.”

However, Special Adviser to Governor Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the thugs were sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC), its candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu and the sacked National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who he said had in the past few days engaged thugs to cause mayhem in the state.

“We are appalled by the deployment of thugs to the sacred grounds of the Oba Palace by the APC, Ize-Iyamu and Oshiomhole to harass guests who are in the state for the flag-off of Governor Obaseki’s campaign and had visited the palace to pay obeisance to His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin.

“While we respect the boundaries of politics as it relates to the Palace, it is reprehensible that the APC, its candidate and their enablers would sponsor thugs to desecrate the palace, which is a clear case of desperation to score cheap points.

“This conduct is not a trait of Edo people and is condemned in the strongest possible terms, as we are courteous and welcoming to guests. It is obvious that these persons were mobilised for this task by those who have no regard for the palace nor want the progress and development of the state,” he said.

Up Next

Shooting At Benin Monarch’s Palace : APC, PDP Trade Blame, Accusation

Don't Miss

BREAKING: Edo Guber: Scores Sustain Injuries As Heavy Gunshots Greet PDP Campaign Flag-off In Benin

Comments

News

Over 60 Youth Groups Dissociate Selves From The October 1 Protest

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Editor

Over 60 youth organisations have declared that their members will not participate in the national protest being planned by some persons and groups for October 1 against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The president of Nigeria Youth Organization, Duke Alamboye, made the position of the youth leaders known when he led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Otuaro, in Abuja on Thursday.

Special Assistant on Media to the PAP Administrator, Mr Igoniko Oduma, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, youth bodies include the National Youth Congress, Arewa Youth Council, Yoruba Youth Council, Ohaneze Youth Council, South-South Advocate, Niger Delta Coalition, the Nigeria Nexus, Youth Parliament of Nigeria, Green Africa Youth Initiative, Youth Foundation for Non-Violence in Nigeria, Niger Delta Youth Parliament, National Association of Nigerian Students, and Youth Empowerment for Peace and Security, among others.

Alamboye in the statement said that they would work together with a network of other youth groups to “ensure that Nigerian youths were not misled into taking part in any ill-advised protest against the government of Tinubu.”

He said they would carry out a series of activities in the days ahead, including a world press conference and a youth summit, to sensitize Nigerians on the need to shun any demonstration in the country.

Alamboye, who urged youths to embrace constructive dialogue, explored them.go use available channels of engagement with the government to express their views instead of disrupting the peace and stability of the nation.

He said, “Concerning the state of the nation, we are not unaware of the agitation from certain quarters calling for a nationwide protest on October 1, 2024. It is a protest against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.

“As youth leaders and lovers of peace and national advancement, the Nigeria Youth Organization would like to inform you of our plan and intention to hold a world press conference on the 23rd of September, 2024, geared towards sensitizing the average Nigerian youth on the need to shun the planned protest.

“We want people to seek dialogue as a better reconciliation tool for venting their grievances. We also hope to organise a summit on October 1st, 2024, as a follow-up to the world press conference. We anticipate that all well-meaning stakeholders will play vital roles in charting a better cause for our youths.”

The youth leader congratulated Otuaro on his appointment and commended the President for putting a square peg in a square hole through the appointment of Otuaro.

He stressed that they were solidly behind Tinubu and the PAP boss.

Also speaking, Henry Okonkwo of the Ohaneze Youth Council, Tobi Bakare (Yoruba Youth Council), Ifon Daniel (Niger Delta Youth Parliament), and Nasir Lawal (Arewa Youth Council), among others, corroborated Alamboye and expressed support for the president.

Responding, the PAP Administrator praised the youth leaders for dissociating themselves from the planned protest, noting that Tinubu was is youth-friendly leader who had appointed several youths to serve in different capacities in his government.

Otuaro urged them not to allow themselves to be manipulated into unpatriotic activities in the name of protest, as the president needs more time for the benefits of his people-oriented reforms, policies, and programmes to manifest.

While thanking the youth groups for their decision and support for Tinubu, he said, “Mr. President means well for the country. It is reassuring to know that Nigerian youths are with Mr President, who has been in office for a little over a year.

“As youths, we should organise ourselves and present our grievances and concerns through constructive dialogues. Nobody should manipulate you to achieve their ulterior goals. Most of those championing the so-called protest are only seeking attention and they thrive under the guise of anti-government protests to get attention. Youths should be watchful.”

News

BREAKING: NECO Releases 2024 Internal Examination Results

Published

7 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Editor

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the 2024 SSCE internal results.

This was disclosed on Thursday, September 19, by the NECO’s Registrar/Chief Executive, Professor Dantani Wushishi, while briefing journalists in Minna during the release of the 2024 SSCE internal results.

Wushishi also said that NECO blacklisted 21 supervisors in 12 states and de-recognized one school in Ekiti state for mass cheating in two core subjects and one science subject.

According to him, the Supervisors were recommended for blacklisting due to poor supervision, aiding and abetting, abscondment, extortion, drunkenness, and negligence.

He said: “40 schools were round to have been involved in whole-school mass cheating in 17 states adding that the schools will be invited to the council for discussion after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.”

Details shortly…

News

Rotary Club Embarks On Tree Planting To Save Environment In Bauchi

Published

8 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Editor

The Rotary Club International on Wednesday, embarked on planting 110 forest species trees in Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi state.

Speaking during the flagging off of the planting exercise, Mr Morris Choji, Rotary Club International President in Bauchi state, said the gesture was to prevent the environment from desertification.

According to him, the club decided to embark on the project in order to see how it could contribute to saving the environment by planting the trees to serve as windbreaks and to avoid erosion.

Morris, who encouraged the people of Dass to also plant more trees, promised that the club would plant more if the ones planted are well taken care of.

“Today, we are witnessing a tree planting project that we as Rotarians do from time to time to see how we can save the environment.

“As Rotary club, we have seven areas of focus such as Polio eradication, Water and Sanitation, Maternal and Child health, among others and protecting the environment is one of them.

“We are planting 110 forest species trees in the Dass Local Government Area of the state and I would like to call on the benefiting community to take very good care of the trees.

“From time to time, we will be coming here to see how far they are faring and we have gotten assurance from the local government that they will be taken care of and we appreciate the energy,” he said.

In her reaction toward the gesture, Mrs Victoria Joshua, Head of Administration, Dass LGA, said that the project is very important to the people of Dass and to humanity at large.

“We are witnessing great deforestation globally, there is great climate change and what Rotary club is doing right now by planting these trees is a way to serve humanity and to curb the deforestation taking place in our locality and globally.

“We appreciate the club for their efforts to serve humanity and we call on them to bring not only this plantation but more benefiting programmes into Dass LGA,” she said.

She assured that the local government would mobilise forestry staff under the Agric section in the LGA to take very good care of the planted trees so as to achieve the purpose they were planted.