Olumide Lawal
There was tension in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State as the state Police Command detained the ward leaders of the party in Oredo Local Government Area of the state, including the state Youth Leader of the party, Osakpanwa Eriyo over alleged threat on the life of the state secretary of the party, Chief Osaro Idah and a security detail attached to Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Their arrest followed a petition by Chief Idah, who alleged that Eriyo had threatened to eliminate him “the way my father was killed,” during a meeting of the leaders of the party at Government House last Friday. In the petition addressed to the state Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, Idah alleged threat to his life and called for an investigation into the matter.
It was, however, learned that after the police refused to release Eriyo who was invited, his loyalists stormed the police command, urging the police to detain all of them instead.
Following the confusion his loyalists were detained, including some members of the party’s executive in Oredo.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday said that it was embarrassed by the recent arrest of the leadership of APC in Oredo, arising from a petition by Chief Idah, alleging threat to life.
The party, in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, said that it was alarmed that among those arrested were the entire Oredo APC executive, from ward 1,2,3,4,5,6,9,11 and 12, Oredo Women Leader, Oredo chairman and state Youth Leader, Mr Eriyo.
The party described the arrests as sad, saying, “Our political history as party members now use threat of assassination to intimidate, cower, threaten and dehumanize fellow party members.
“You will recall that in the eight years of Adams Oshiomhole’s government, N48 billion was withdrawn using the heading ‘Urgent Security Challenges.’ We now know that Edo State never faced any such challenge.”
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