President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been called upon to investigate yesterday’s attack on the convoy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, in Benin City.
In the attack, a police inspector in the convoy was killed.
In a reaction to the incident, a group, the Edo Peace Initiative, led by its national president, Barrister Eghosa Igunbor, accused the commissioner of police, Funsho Adegboye, of compromise.
Some hoodlums laid siege on the airport when Okpebholo arrived there from Abuja in the company of other passengers, including Philip Shaibu, who was reinstated as deputy governor of Edo State by the courts.
Igunbor, however, claimed that Okpebholo was the target of the attack, not Philip Shuaibu, “because of his rising popularity ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election.”
The group called on the inspector-general of police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate Adegboye as the police allowed the armed hoodlums to operate freely.
The group lamented that the state had been under tension in the past few days because of the rising profile of Senator Okpebholo across the state.
He said, “The IGP should investigate some key Asue/Ogie Campaign Organisation officials and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the attack.
According to him, as soon as the senator drove out of the airport, the hoodlums barricaded the road and shot at his convoy sporadically, resulting in the killing of Inspector Akor Onu, with several others critically injured.
“We are shocked at the audacity of hoodlums to unleash mayhem in the city of Benin in broad daylight. We are calling on the IGP to recall the police commissioner and investigate the incident so that Edo people can sleep with their two eyes closed,” he said.