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By John Ogunsemore
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blamed “reckless and inflammatory rhetoric” against the opposition for Tuesday’s attack on Peter Obi, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and other chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Benin City, Edo State.
Photos and videos seen by SunOnline showed SUV windscreens smashed while the gate leading to Odigie-Oyegun’s residence was riddled with bullets.
National Coordinator of Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko confirmed the attack on Obi and other ADC chieftains in a statement issued in Abuja.
“At the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata into the African Democratic Congress, armed individuals followed us from the ADC Secretariat to the residence of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“They shot at the gate and destroyed several vehicles in what appears to be a survived assassination attempt on our lives. Democracy is in danger,” the statement reads in part.
Reacting to the attack in a statement he personally signed, Atiku described it as utterly condemnable and unacceptable.
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He warned that the nation is entering a perilous time for opposition figures, noting that dangerous rhetoric from elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State against the opposition could have incentivised Tuesday’s attack.
He called on President Bola Tinubu and the nation’s security chiefs to live up to their constitutional responsibilities of securing the lives and property of every Nigerian irrespective of political leaning.
Atiku said, “The violent attack on Peter Obi, Chief John Oyegun, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, Olumide Akpata, and other Coalition ADC leaders in Benin, Edo State, is utterly condemnable and unacceptable in any democracy.
“In recent times, we have witnessed reckless and inflammatory rhetoric from elements within the ruling party in Edo State, rhetoric that dangerously legitimises violence against political opponents. Words, when weaponised, often precede actions. What happened in Benin did not occur in a vacuum.
“Nigeria is entering a perilous phase in which opposition voices are not only harassed through state institutions but are now being physically targeted. The ruling APC appears to have escalated its intolerance from bureaucratic suppression to open aggression.
“President Bola Tinubu and the nation’s security chiefs bear a constitutional responsibility to guarantee the protection of lives and property without discrimination or partisanship. The safety of opposition leaders and supporters is not a favour; it is a democratic obligation.
“Nigeria must not descend into a theatre where politics is settled by violence.”
