Factional Edo APC scribe alleges assassination plot

Factional State Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and known ally of the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, Mr. Lawrence Okah, has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of plotting to kill him over second term ambition.

There was bomb explosion at Okah’s residence in Bénin City on Monday morning. Another explosive did not detonate.

But Obaseki, speaking through his special Adviser on Media, Crusoe Osakue, said the resort to violence was the stock in trade of Ize-Iyamu, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and their cohorts in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM).

Okah, who spoke while conducting reporters round his residence where the bomb exploded, said gunmen had last week Tuesday fired at his bedroom.

He alleged that Governor Obaseki had earlier threatened him and has carried out the threat with the attacks.

How Military nab fleeing Boko Haram Member in Plateau

“On Tuesday last week, I heard gunshots. They shot at my bedroom. The police came and picked 52 bullets here.

“Yesterday at about 12:30, I heard a noise like boom. I called my security and they said it looked like a bomb. The one they threw at my bedroom did not detonate. If that one has detonate, you would not have seen me to be talking to.

“That was targeted to my room. If it had exploded it would have been a different story. I just want to advise Mr. Governor. He has threatened me before and he has carried out the threat.

“By the grace of God we are alive to speak to our people to let them know what is going on. We pray to God for those we help not to turn around against us. By the Grace of God I am one of those that helped this government to be and the Governor has turned now to be my enemy.”

Pastor Ize-Iyamu, who was present at Okah’s residence alongside other personalities, said Governor Obaseki and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu must not kill to get second term.

Ize-Iyamu said they would arrest the perpetrators if the police failed to arrest them.

He said the perpetrators do not have the capacity to sustain what they are doing because if they push them to the wall, the consequences would be disastrous.

Responding to allegations that he once accused Oshiomhole of bombing his wife’s clinic, Pastor Ize-Iyamu explained that he was clear then that officials of the state government carried out the act.

Meanwhile, Governor Obaseki, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the state chapter of the APC was peaceful until the EPM and its enablers commenced their nefarious activities across the state.

AccordiHe said: “We are quite flustered that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has not been able to rein in his people in the face of the reconstitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Reconciliation Committee, tasked to restore lasting peace in the party both in the state and across the country. We are committed to peace and would do right by the people of Edo State by continually supporting all credible means to arrive at a lasting peace in the state.

“At the same time, we want to state clearly that Ize-Iyamu, Comrade Oshiomhole and their cohorts are the common denominators of political violence in Edo State.

“On the 19th of October, 2014, this same Ize-Iyamu announced that his house along Dennis Osadebey Way, GRA, Benin City, where his wife carries out her dental practice was bombed and at that time, he pointedly stated that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who was then governor of the state, was responsible for the attack. From that time till now, there has been a cessation of the use of explosives and other dangerous weapons in causing mayhem and heating up the political space in the state.

“It is therefore rather curious that with the same Ize-Iyamu coming back into the political space in the last three months, extreme political violence has resurfaced with bombs going off in parts of the state and gunmen attacking politically-exposed persons.”

He continued: “We have stated before that the EPM, under the sponsorship of Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and others, having lost out of the political powerplay in the state and failed repeatedly in their inordinate quest to seize power from Governor Godwin Obaseki through undemocratic means, have now resorted to violence to create a sense of a breakdown of law and order with the intent of forcing the declaration of a State of Emergency in the state”.

Obaseki urged the Presidency and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to call Comrade Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and their cohorts in the EPM to order so that the destructive descent to violence does not erode the good legacies that have been built over the years by the APC in Edo State.

He also assured Edo people of government’s resolve to maintain law and order, and ensure that the peace and safety in the state is not threatened by whatever means.

Edo State Police spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, could not be reached for comments as at press time.