Following rival political opponents’ coordinated vandalism of campaign billboards and materials, the Association of Professional Outdoor Signage Practitioners of Nigeria (APOSPON) Edo State has called on the police and other security agencies to arrest the vandals.
The association also called on those behind the act to cease immediately, saying, ” We are non-political, and we are not discriminatory in accepting campaigns/advert messages so long as they meet the criteria.”
Briefing newsmen in Benin City, the chairman of APOSPON, Esokpunwu Dave, said, “Our advert structures and billboards are under attack.”
He called on all those destroying campaigns/advert messages deployed on its billboards to desist from the act.
Dave said, “These structures are our investments, and they are capital intensive. The same can be said of our clients who spend much money producing advertising materials for our structures. “We cannot fold our hands and watch our investments being destroyed. Therefore, we are activating every device to protect our assets and source of livelihood from going down the drain.
“We would also like to use this medium to call on the Nigeria Police humbly and all other security outfits in Edo State to watch out for vandals and apprehend them.”
While frowning at the destruction of political campaign materials on her billboards erected in the state ahead of the September governorship election, Esokpunwu said any person caught perpetrating the act or linked to it in any way would be dealt with according to the law of the land.
The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Olumide Akpata, recently alleged that agents of the Edo State government, the PDP, and other political opponents destroyed his campaign billboards across the state.
