Okpebholo was target of Edo shooting, group alleges

Group writes Tinubu, seeks investigation into use of vigilante as thugs

AGROUP, the Edo Unity Front ( EUF), has described the shooting that resulted in the death of a mobile policeman attached to the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Monday Okpebholo, as an assassination attempt on the governorship hopeful.

The group, in a statement issued in Benin, described the incident as inhuman, ruthless and barbaric, adding that it was an attempt to scuttle Okpebholo’s vision to take the state to greater height. The statement signed by the spokesperson of the EUF, Dr. Pius Akugbe, urged the police and other security agents to devise counter measures that will make it impossible for the forces of despotism to carry out their sinister plan of eliminating APC chieftains in Edo State.

Akigbe said: “We are shattered by this terrible event. The assassination plot underlined the desperation of forces, which retard progress in the state, to promote violence and retain power at all cost.

“It is an organised terrorism against the APC candidate and a challenge to the electorate. The day of reckoning is at hand.

“The assassination attempt is inextricably interwoven into the state ruling party’s assault on political opponents and progressive minded intellectuals in Edo State.”

MEANWHILE, the Benin Cultural Forum has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over alleged misconduct of the Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, which resulted in the death of Inspector Akor Onu at the weekend.

Akor was killed when some political thugs attacked the convoy of Okpebholo in Benin City as he arrived at the airport in the company of former Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shuaibu.