There was political tension in Edo State on Tuesday as former presidential candidate Peter Obi, ex-APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, and top leaders of the African Democratic Congress were allegedly attacked by suspected thugs in Benin City.
The incident occurred during events surrounding the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata into the ADC, a gathering that had attracted key opposition heavyweights to the state.
Obi’s former campaign spokesman and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, raised the alarm in a statement from Abuja.
The statement read, “Peter Obi and the leadership of the ADC are under siege and attack in Benin, Edo State. At the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata into the African Democratic Congress, armed individuals followed us from the ADC Secretariat to the residence of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“They shot at the gate and destroyed several vehicles in what appears to be a survived assassination attempt on our lives. Democracy is in danger.”
Shocking photos and videos shared afterward showed shattered SUV windscreens and a gate reportedly riddled with bullets at Odigie-Oyegun’s residence.
The alleged attack has now thrown Edo’s already heated political atmosphere into a deeper one, igniting fresh fears over the safety of opposition figures and the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
