Edo commissioner links party crisis to alleged attack on Peter Obi, others

By Lawrence Agbo

The Edo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Kassim Afegbua, has linked the recent attack on former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and other political figures in Benin City to internal crises within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Afegbua made the allegations on ARISE News on Wednesday, suggesting that members of the party who were prevented from attending a key meeting may have led to the disruption.

According to him, the ADC experienced a crisis on Monday that continued into the next day, leading to bottled-up anger and heightened tension among party leaders. He argued that the fallout from the dispute may have culminated in the attack.

“The crisis we all witnessed on Monday blocked the road that leads to the government house and at some points, I had to make a detour to get to the government house,” he said.

The commissioner maintained that available information pointed to internal grievances rather than an externally coordinated assault, noting that investigations into the incident were ongoing.

“If you listen to the leaders in the video, you will see that there were bottle-up angers and tension among all the leaders of the party to the point that the gatewas locked to prevent others from participating in the meeting,

“It was that same incident that snowballed into the crisis of yesterday. I think they sensed that Peter Obi was coming and there was going to be a defection, so those that was prevented from pertivipating ochestrated the attack,” he added.

Peter Obi and other political actors were reportedly attacked during a political engagement in Benin, the Edo State capital, an incident that has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed concerns about political violence.