By Laraba MUREY
As activities for the 2027 general elections heat up, fears of violence targeting opposition figures have heightened following attacks against Mr. Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi recently.
Last Tuesday, Obi and some chieftains of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, were attacked in Benin city, the Edo state capital.
National coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, sounded the alarm in a post on X. He said the opposition figures were attacked at the residence of John Odigie-Oyegun, a chieftain of the party and former governor of Edo state.
Amaechi’s convoy was waylaid by armed thugs on the road between Ubima and Omuanwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area on his way to his community for his e-registration as a member of the ADC.
Earlier, suspected hoodlums had already mounted a roadblock, turning back buses identified as conveying ADC members who were travelling with the former governor.
The previous night, heavily armed thugs had invaded the community and set ablaze the ADC ward office in Ubima.
ADC, Edo governor react
At that time, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC national publicity secretary, described the attack as “a grave and disturbing development”, which amounts to a major setback for the country’s democracy.
However, Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo while condemning the incident, described it as a spillover of intra-party disputes that had escalated beyond control.
The governor accused unnamed individuals of importing thugs from outside Edo to disrupt the state’s peace under the guise of politics, while the Edo state police command said it has commenced an investigation into the attack.
Obi, Amaechi speak
Speaking on Friday during a visit to Peter University, Achina, in Anambra state, Obi condemned the attack and subsequent threats circulating on social media warning him against visiting certain parts of the country.
“I am a Nigerian, and I am free to go to any part of this country. It is a constitutional right that nobody can take away from me. But let me make it clear, nobody has a monopoly of violence,” he said.
Obi referenced his recent visit to Rivers state despite a strong warning that he should not step his foot in the state, adding that the threat did not deter him from honouring an earlier invitation shortly after the Benin incident.
The former governor also declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the ADC platform, saying that no forces can deter him from pursuing his ambition.
“I’m not desperate to be the president of Nigeria, but I’m desperate to see Nigeria work. Nigeria has collapsed and is already lying on the ground,” he said.
Amaechi in a telephone interview with The Abuja Inquirer, said, “The plan was to stop me from going to my village. We knew they will try to stop me. So we were prepared. Thanks to our security people.”
Speaking in Ubima after that attack, Amaechi called on security agencies to identify and arrest the miscreants who attacked his convoy and set fire to the ADC office in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
In the 2023 elections, certain ethnic groups were targeted in some states by members of the ruling party and were warned not to cast their votes for any candidates other than the APC.
Political watchers are worried that for lack of prosecution of election violence perpetrators, the menace continues unhindered.
Already, the DSS has taken into custody one Udeme Monday Stephen over the Benin attack on Obi and senior officials of the ADC.
Stephen on his X account @stevetom788 claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened further attacks on Obi.
Stephen stated online that Obi was lucky to have escaped in Benin, and vowed that the former presidential candidate wouldn’t be that lucky next time.
On social media, The Abuja Inquirer saw several threats aimed at political opponents.
The Chairman of the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Jarrett Tenebe, threatened to kill a Facebook user who had criticised the Edo state governor, Monday Okpebholo.
The Facebook user, identified as Blessing P Agho, was threatened with death by Tenebe, via a Facebook message directly to Agho, vowed to kill her.
“Your death is close. You are a bastard, just show where you are if you can,” he wrote and The Abuja Inquirer cannot vouch he was invited by security agents.
