The assistant treasurer in All Progressives Congress (APC), Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Augustine Omorogbe has been stabbed by hoodlums.
A party official said that the victim better known as ‘Ekpikpi’, was allegedly attacked during a fight last week Thursday in Oza Aibie-Okunla Ward in the Council Area.
TheNewspad reports that Omorogbe’s attack was in connection with a protracted tussle between him and the mastermind of the crime, now at large.
Sources said the deliberate refusal by the ‘prime suspect’ to quit his rented apartment as requested by the property owner, was blamed for the crisis.
Omorogbe, is a personal aide to the Edo Representative on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDCC) Board, Hon. Patrick Aisowieren who represented Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between 2015-2023.
Pandemonium broke out
when Omorogbe was going home after joining the yet-to-be named property owner to eject the embattled defaulting tenant who sells drinks and provision out of the said apartment, which has been given out to another tenant.
The notice to quit, was met to pave the way for another prospective tenant who paid for the apartment, according to unsuccessful, according to Community sources.
The uproar caused by Omorogbe’s attack, prompted his neighbours to raise the alarm that attracted the attention of some village elders and youths who rescued the injured victim and took him to a Pharmacist for urgent Medical attention.
Investigation revealed that the case was thereafter reported at the Nigeria Police, Abudu Division in the Local Government Area, where police operatives launched manhunt on the prime suspect, People Democratic Party stalwart in the area.
A viral footage where aged woman, the mother of one of the fleeing suspects, joined by other sympathetic women, heckled security agents who stormed the area in their operational vehicle, the prime suspect fled his home when police started trailing him.
Some women in the Community are accusing security agents of plotting to kill the prime suspect, after casting aspersion on Hon. Aisowieren in what was speculated as deliberate attempts to play the victim’s card and divert public attention.
But, Liberty Luyi, the Special Adviser to Hon. Patrick Aisowieren on Administration and Public Relations, who confirmed the incident, punctured the claim by certain individuals on social media, suggesting that ‘the hunted is being victimized by the hunter’.
Sharing insights into the violent attack, Luyi said, “The main suspect lives in a rented apartment”.
“His rent has since expired and the owner of the property gave it out to another tenant after failing to renew his expired rent. We need that apartment for APC Secretariat”, he said.
“When the apartment became vacant, we paid for four years. For the past 3-4 months, the owner of the property wrote to him. But, the recalcitrant tenant insisted that he was been victimized that he is of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“It’s a case of playing the victim’s card.
Because he is a PDP member, he (the prime suspect) was wrongly advised by some leaders of his party not to quit the rented apartment because Godwin Obaseki was the Governor of the State after his rent expired.
“When we challenged him, he started ranting on social Media that nothing can be done to evict him. They were not smart enough to understand that government has changed in Edo State.
“And if you go against the law, there will be no party leader to protect you anymore”, Luyi who assisted in rescuing the injured victim alleged.
Responding to the attack on social media, Prince Lucky Igbinedion, a Community leader in Igbanke also confirmed the incident.
He alleged that, “The case is in the police station. They (suspects) should go and report themselves and write their statements instead of resorting to Facebook propaganda”.
Further details from SP Moses Yamu, spokesman for the Nigeria Police Command in Edo State, is being awaited by our Reporter.
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