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From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Alleging support for some governorship aspirants ahead of the Labour Party primaries scheduled for later this month, hundreds of youths of the Edo State chapter of the party on Sunday evening, protested against the Party’s National Chairman, Bar Julius Abure, who they insist must go.
The irate youths besieged the state party secretariat bearing placards with different inscriptions, while chanting “Abure must go, Abure must go”.
They were however prevented from entering the building by security operatives, who reportedly confiscated video cameras belonging to two national television stations who were recording the protest.
The intervention of the Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State Council, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, made it possible for the cameras to be retrieved from the overzealous security operatives.
The protesting youths alleged that the National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, has compromised his position and therefore should not be allowed to superintend over the party primary.
One of the protesters who gave his name as Imafidon Emmanuel, said the chairman is dragging the party’s name to the mud, wondering why he would say that the executive members of the party will not be part of the primary.
“Why would a national chairman of the party say that the executive will not be part of the primary? Who does he want to participate? What it means is that he already has a candidate of his choice. Which is very wrong. We want everybody to participate. We want a free and fair primary. We don’t want Abure to influence the primary, whoever emerge as the candidate of the party should be allowed to be the candidate”, he said.
Another protester, Comrade Johnson Edobor, who spoke in the vein said “We want peace in Labour Party. We don’t want the national chairman again. The national chairman is giving us problem. We don’t need him again in Edo State . We don’t want to sell the ticket. We have been losing elections in other states. We don’t want to lose Edo State too”.
It was learnt that the Labour Party National Chairman, Julius Abure had called the meeting ahead the party primary election, but the protest interrupted the meeting.
On his part, the Edo State Chairman of LP, Kelly Ogbaloi, who spoke through the telephone said “People came protesting,with dangerous weapons in their hands, and what they told the press was that they are protesting because they were informed that the primary will not be free and fair and they came to attack us and for over two hours we were under siege, we were kept under protection by some security operatives. That was why we were not within their reach.”
