A new theatre of violence on Thursday welcomed the reinstated deputy governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, to Benin City as some armed men, suspected to be vigilante members, opened fire on the motorcade of the embattled deputy governor on his way out of the Benin Airport.
Shaibu, who landed at the Benin Airport in a chartered aircraft in company of the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, was received by his supporters.
Trouble started immediately when the motorcade hit the ever-busy Airport Road, as the armed men, suspected to be vigilantes, in a Sienna vehicle parked across the road, opened fire, while Shaibu’s supporters, among whom were some armed men too, responded with gunshots.
The exchange of gunshots, which occurred at about 2.00 pm, left commuters on the road scampering to safety. It took the intervention of regular security agents to restore normalcy, as the armed security agents shot sporadically to disperse the warring parties.
Shaibu, it would be recalled, was reinstated on Wednesday by a Federal High Court, Abuja, headed by Justice J. K. Omotosho, who voided his earlier impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly on April 8, 2024.
Shortly after the court judgment, Shaibu’s supported boasted that the embattled deputy governor would resume his office on Thursday, just as the Edo state Government issued a statement, reiterating that the deputy governor, Godwins Omobayo, remained the valid deputy governor as the Assembly was said to have appealed the judgment and filed a stay of execution.
Shortly after the shootings, Shaibu drove in the company of Okpebholo to the APC State Secretariat, where they went into a closed-door meeting.
Reacting to the development, the legislative aide to Senator Okpebholo on Media and Communication, Godswill Inegbe, in a statement, accused a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Francis Inegbeniki, of being the mastermind of the fracas.
Inegbe, in the statement, alleged that “During the unprovoked brutal attack, three mobile policemen attached to the security detail of Senator Okpebholo were injured with bullet wounds, while one of the policemen has been declared dead!
“Senator Monday Okpebholo is at this moment admitted in an undisclosed hospital in Benin City receiving medical attention, and other members of his entourage who were victims of the brutal attack are in various hospitals in Benin City”, Inegbe affirmed.
Denying the allegation of his involvement in the fracas, Chief Inegbeniki said that he was nowhere near the Airport not to talk of sponsoring or leading anyone to attack the motorcade of the APC candidate.
Describing the allegation as a plot to tarnish his image, the PDP leader said: “ It is not true that I led or sponsored thugs on protest along Airport road in Benin City. As I speak, I was never on Airport Road as at the time the said confrontation took place.”
“It is very wrong for anyone for any reason to accuse me of leading or sponsoring any protest. I urge the government, security agencies and the general public to disregard the falsehood The election is around the corner, and I quite understand that my enemies would do anything desperately to blackmail me or tarnish my reputation”, he said, adding that as a peaceful and law-abiding Nigerian, and at his age, being an elder statesman, he would never contemplate such act.
Meanwhile, the deputy governor’s office located at Osadebey’s Avenue in the Government Reservation Area has been taken over by members of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN)
Shaibu.
In its immediate reaction to the violence, the Edo State Government vowed that the embattled deputy governor would be made to face the music over Thursday’s violence in the city.
The state government, while warning Shaibu not to resort to chaos under the guise of enforcing court judgment, reminded him that he “is not above the law.
A statement endorsed by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, stated that the propensity of Shaibu for violence “is well documented and has been warned several times by respected figures, including the revered Benin Monarch to shun violence.”
The statement reads in parts:
“The Edo State Government has observed the level of wanton destruction perpetrated by thugs and elements working in connivance with former Deputy Governor of the State, Philip Shaibu in the guise of purportedly enforcing a judgment reinstating him in office.
“Shaibu led thugs through the Airport Road axis of Benin City, attacking innocent citizens and unleashing mayhem on private citizens who were going about their lawful businesses.
“The State Government through this statement is warning Shaibu to desist from this turn to violence in the pretense that he is enforcing a judgment. He is reminded that he is not above the law and is liable for the wanton destruction perpetrated by him and his co-travellers.
“Shaibu’s violent tendencies are well documented, and he has been warned at different times by respected figures of society, including the revered Benin Monarch to shun violence.
“We want to reiterate that Shaibu will face the consequences of violence that he has resorted to in pursuit of his aim to return to the Edo State Government House even when he is aware that a stay of execution of the judgment has been filed.
“We enjoin the general public to be calm and go about their lawful businesses as the government will continue to deploy the instrumentality of the state to restore and maintain law and order in the State in the face of undue provocation.”
Shaibu fell out with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, over his ambition to succeed his boss, just as the governor insisted that his successor would come from the Edo Central Senatorial District, an area that has not produced the governor of the state since the inception of the current political dispensation in 1999.
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