Mayhem was averted at 59 Airport road in Benin City on Thursday when leaders and supporters of All Progressives Congress invaded its Secretariat, illegally converted by Peoples Democratic Party.
APC had since been denied access to the secretariat over the past four years after the immediate past State governor, Godwin Obaseki defected from APC, denied him his return ticket which he thereafter given him by the PDP, to seek his re-election in 2020.
The contention between the two political parties was renewed by the electoral victory of APC Candidate for the September 21st Edo State governorship election, Governor Monday Okpebholo, which paved the way for it to retrieve the secretariat, Thursday.
It was gathered that terrified Administrative staffers of PDP and Edo State PDP Caretaker Committee, Tony Aziegbemi present at that time, were overwhelmed when they sighted ‘APC hatchet men’, who stormed the venue and removed the PDP flags, replaced them with APC flags.
But for the prompt intervention of a team of Police operatives led by Deputy Commissioner for Police (Operations) in the State, DCP Ben Abang, acting on credible intelligence, doused tension and prevented a violent confrontation between the feuding parties.
DCP Abang, led his men with a PDP elected Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, who joined police operatives to escort Aziegbemi out of the party premises after APC has taken possession of the place.
Addressing the APC leaders and supporters, DCP Abang appealed to them to leave the secretariat in order towards paving the way for a peaceful resolution of the secretariat.
He stated that the State APC leaders ought to have informed police authorities about their plan as law-abiding citizens to avoid physical confrontation.
He said moreso, the Commissioner of Police in the State, is yet-to-be deployed to the State before the then PDP government of former Obaseki claimed the secretariat years ago.
After a hot exchange, the State Chairman of APC, Emperor Jarret Tenebe, joined by the State youth Leader, Tony Kabaka Adun, State Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae Igbinigie and others, rebuffed the move by the police.
Tenebe insisted that hence PDP forcefully evicted APC from the secretariat few years ago under the the Governor of the State, Godwin Obaseki, such suggestion is unnecessary.
He said the APC secretariat was rented by the National headquarters of the party, maintaining that all the PDP secretariats across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State will be taken over by the party, noting that available records of payments for seven years, is still running.
He said the APC has almost lose confidence in the Nigeria police, reminding the Deputy Commissioner of Police that killers of Inspector, Onuh Akor, a police orderly to Governor Monday Okpebholo, are still working the street free despite his party petition to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun to investigate and bring them to book.
According to him, “We have taken over our secretariat. If you Google office, it will lead you to this office. It will lead you to this address.
“Officer, there is nothing that will make me to leave here. There is nothing in earth that will make me to leave this office.
“Let me tell you, when they (PDP) taking this office years ago, they did not write to the police. So, we don’t need to write to the police.
“I can’t tell you. We don’t trust the police. But, we can’t do without working with the police. These same people (PDP) killed our police, your at the airport. We wrote a petition to the police; up till now, nothing has happened”, Tenebe said.
TheNewspad recalls that APC had also previously taken over Egor, Orhionmwon Local Government Councils party secretariats, following the emergence of Governor Okpebholo.
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