How I escaped assassination – Oshiomhole’s deputy

Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, on
Sunday narrated how he narrowly escaped death
in the hands of suspected assassins in Etsako
West Local Government Area of the state.

Odubu, an aspirant under the All Progressives
Congress for the September 10 governorship
election, had last Saturday been reportedly
attacked by some armed thugs during his visit to
Auchi to meet with party delegates in the area.

The thugs were said to have claimed that they
were mobilised with the sum of one million
naira.

Odubu, who had reportedly been at loggerheads
with Governor Adams Oshiomhole over his
ambition, was denied access to the APC
secretariat at Fugar, allegedly on the instruction
of a deputy director of protocol at the
Government House.

The situation was later said to have angered
some delegates who forced the gate open to
enable the deputy governor meet with them
(delegates) outside.

He was said to have left for Auchi and was
meeting with some delegates when the
suspected thugs suddenly appeared and fired
gunshots, leaving several persons injured,
including a policeman and an operative of the
Department of State Security.

A source who did not want to be mentioned had
told our correspondent that although Odubu was
not injured in the attack, the thugs claimed to
have been mobilised with the sum of one
million naira.
However, Odubu, who spoke through his
campaign organisation, during a press briefing in
Benin, said that he had to be shielded inside a
hall to avoid “direct bullet contacts”.

“Surprisingly, at Auchi, the deputy governor and
his team met with passionate, patriotic (and)
huge number of delegates but no sooner had
the meeting begun than the gunmen opened
fire outside the secretariat on both security
men and members of the deputy governor’s
entourage and delegates. It was such a shocking
and gory sight to behold,” he explained.
He noted that although the attack was
“orchestrated directly at his person” and geared
towards disrupting the aims of the campaign,
seven persons sustained varying degrees of
injury and were receiving treatment at the
University of Benin Teaching hospital and
another hospital in Auchi.
According to him, the victims include, a DSS
operative, Patrick Amakiri; his escort police
commander, Inspector Agge Felix; and a driver,
Zibiri Yakubu.
Others are Ogbeso Nice, Inu Umoru,
Osabuohien Igiebor, Matthew Ajayi and another
person whose identity could not be ascertained.

Speaking on behalf of the Odubu Campaign
Organisation, a former Minority Whip in the
House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie,
disclosed that preliminary investigation by the
organisation had revealed three principal
suspected masterminds of the attack, which he
described as an act of cowardice “perpetrated by
those who dread a free, fair and credible
democratic contest” and an attempt to compel
the deputy governor “quit the governorship race
or be eliminated”.

Osagie also called on the national leadership of
the APC to intervene in the happenings in the
state.

“This, to us, is the height of naked display of
cruelty, animosity, acrimony, intolerance, gross
irresponsibility and man’s inhumanity to man,”
he added.

The leadership of the state chapter of the APC,
condemned the attack on the deputy governor,
describing it as “absolute madness” which he
said had become “endemic” in the party.

The state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Godwin
Erhahon, who stated this, said, “I am not a
member of any campaign organisation; I am not
a supporter of any aspirant. But in a moment
like this, where the blood of some of our
members have been shed and then members of
this (Odubu’s) organisation have also been
traumatised, it is only fair and proper that the
party identifies with the traumatised and join
them in thanking God that nobody died in the
process.

“Therefore, I am here to also condemn what
happened yesterday at Auchi, on behalf of all
the APC members and leaders who are not yet
infested with the ongoing madness that has
become endemic in the party. What happened
yesterday was absolute madness. I think we
should pray for them (perpetrators) so that
sanity can come into them, otherwise, they will
end up destroying themselves.”