URHOGHIDE AND THE EDO AIRPORT INVASION

Alot has been written and said about the Benin Airport incident of Friday, April 27, 2018, involving Senator Mathew Urhoghide, representing Edo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, youths of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Most of the commentaries have been largely partisan, despite the true account of the event that took place at the airport as presented by the Edo State Government.

I will at this juncture ask the difficult questions which many commentators have refused or failed to ask: Why did Senator Mathew Urhoghide commission thugs and militants in his party, the PDP, to receive him at the airport? Or put differently, what were Edo PDP thugs doing at the Benin Airport? What was the grand occasion? Was that the first time that Senator Mathew Urhoghide would be arriving Benin City through the airport?

What more would have happened at the airport if Urhoghide’s plot was not aborted by the Edo State Commissioner of police and his men, who showed up at the airport? Only Senator Urhoghide can answer these and other questions.

For those who believe in speaking truth to power, the self-evident truth is that Senator Urhoghide’s plot to stage-manage a heroic welcome and cause mayhem at an airport facility, set the stage for all the events that transpired at the airport.

Clearly, we need not labour too much to deduce that Senator Urhoghide was intent on causing commotion in the state after his outing on the floor of the Senate where he moved a motion for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari. He evidently had commissioned some thugs well ahead of his visit to Benin, to come to the airport. Senator Urhoghide must stop playing the ostrich!

The nation’s security agencies need to invite Senator Mathew Urhoghide to shed more light on what happened. Let us not forget that the Edo State governor arrived Benin City through the same airport while the ‘drama’ was unfolding, and his arrival actually doused the fire that Senator Urhoghide had lit.

The PDP’s feeble attempt to drag the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, into Senator Urhoghide’s misfortune is ludicrous. It is on record that the governor has demonstrated his disdain for thuggery in politics. He has since his assumption of duty, as the governor of the state, sanitised Edo political space with his several reform programmes. Chris Azebamwan, Publicity Secretary, Edo State Chapter of All Progressives Congress