Edo-based activist, Precious Oruche, popularly known as ‘Mama Pee’, has been taken into custody following a heated confrontation with the factional National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, at the Abuja Airport.
The incident, which has since gone viral, has sparked controversy and conflicting accounts from both parties.
According to reports, the saga began at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, where Mama Pee allegedly confronted Abure as he prepared to board a Max Air flight to Benin City.
Eyewitnesses said the activist approached Abure and accused him of being responsible for the hardships Nigerians are currently facing.
“Is this not Julius Abure? You’re the one frustrating Nigerians,” she reportedly told him. In response, Abure asked, “How can?” But Mama Pee pressed on: “In case nobody has told you, you’re the one frustrating Nigerians.”
“Are you not Julius Abure? What are you now doing with Labour Party? Police are looking for you. You’ve destroyed the Labour Party, and you’re entering an aeroplane? May God punish all of you,” she told Abure.
Things reportedly took a more violent turn upon their arrival in Benin City. At the Benin Airport, Mama Pee was allegedly attacked by a group of young men believed to be thugs loyal to Abure.
A video circulating online shows a scuffle at the airport’s exit, with several individuals attempting to drag the activist before security and immigration officials stepped in.
Speaking in one of the video recordings, Mama Pee claimed that she was assaulted by the group. “Look at them oh!!! See them oh!!! They want to beat me after I told Julius Abure that ‘you are the one frustrating the lives of Nigerians’, and then he brings thugs. He brought thugs to harass me. Look at them, can you see them,” she exclaimed.
She further alleged, “I saw Julius Abure of Labour Party inside the Max Air, and I told him that you are the one frustrating the lives of Nigerians. You sold Labour Party, and then he called his thugs to wait for me at the airport in Benin.”
Amid the outcry, another activist Peter Randy-Akah widely known as ‘Peter for Nigeria’ released a video calling for Mama Pee’s immediate release.
He appealed to Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebolo, and the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, urging them to intervene.
Akah argued that the female activist, who he described as a victim of political violence, had been wrongly turned into a suspect by the police.
Meanwhile, the Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has issued its own version of events, condemning what it termed an “unwarranted attack” on their chairman.
In a statement released by the factional National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party claimed Mama Pee accosted Abure at the Abuja airport in an unprovoked manner while he was boarding his flight to Benin.
“The assault, which attracted a large population of onlookers, continued unabated on disembarkment at the Benin Airport while she continued recording the scene,”
He added that Abure had to be quickly escorted to safety by security agents, while the activist was handed over to police for questioning.
The statement further alleged that Mama Pee, who is described as a known figure in the ‘Obidient’ Movement, bragged in one of her videos about her connections to top police officers.
“She vowed that she will not stop attacking Abure or any member of the Labour Party executive because according to her, ‘you have killed Labour Party and you are the reason why Obi is no longer in the Labour Party,’” Ifoh said.
Calling for a thorough probe, the Labour Party urged the Inspector General of Police to look into what they termed cyberbullying and political provocation.
“We sincerely believe that the lady-agent was on an assignment to accomplish the desires of her paymasters,” the statement read.
“We are calling on the members of the Labour Party to be calm, even in the face of this unwarranted provocation and wait for the outcome of the investigation on the unprovoked attack against the leadership of the party.”
As of the time of filing this report, attempts to get a comment from the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Moses Yamu, were unsuccessful as calls placed to his phone line were neither answered nor returned.
