Suspected assailants in the early hours of Tuesday attacked the house of Lawrence Okah, the factional State Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State with explosives.
The explosion, which was said to have occurred around 12.30 am, shattered the kitchen side on the ground floor of the building and dug a hole in the ground.
The kitchen window, mower, cooking gas and veranda were also shattered as well as the ceiling.
It was gathered that one of the explosives, which failed to detonate, hung on the veranda rail of the top floor of the house.
The undetonated explosive which was alleged to have been targeted at the bedroom of the APC chieftain was later removed by a team of Police anti-bomb squad about 8 am.
The attacked on the APC scribe’ residence came a few weeks after a similar attack was launched at the house of another chieftain of the party, Francis Inegbeniki.
Lawrence Okah who conducted newsmen round the affected part of the building, said gunmen had last week Tuesday fired at his bedroom.
He alleged that Governor Obaseki had earlier threatened him, which he has allegedly carried out with the attacks.
“On Tuesday last week, I heard gunshots. They shot at my bedroom. The police came and picked 52 bullets here.
“Yesterday at about 12:30, I heard a noise like “boom,” I called my security and they said it looked like a bomb. The one they threw at my bedroom did not detonate. If that one had detonated, you would not have seen me be talking to.
“if the undetonated bomb that was targeted to my room, had exploded, it would have been a different story. I just want to advise the Governor. He has threatened me before and he has carried out the threat,” he said.
Also speaking, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a chieftain of the party and a governorship candidate, warned that Edo should not be turned to a war zone.
Iyamu, who was on a solidarity visit to the party scribe, drew the attention of the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, and President Muhammadu Buhari to the attacks in Edo State.
He, however, wondered why no arrest had been made so far.
“Since the beginning of these series of attacks on our members in the state, we are surprised that no arrest has been.
“Will the Police say they don’t know about it? We know that if the police want to do their jobs they can do it perfectly. So we are calling on them to do their job and save our lives.
“There is no doubt that this action was politically motivated. This cannot be the work of armed robbers. It’s not the work of kidnappers, nor the handiwork of children. It was a deliberate act of political wickedness.
“We are appealing to security agencies that they must not allow the situation to degenerate to the level where people will take laws into their hands”.
“I want to say, for the records, that immunity is no licence to kill or to encourage people to kill or to fund those who kill. What has been happening in the past few days is that they want to kill their political opponents,” he added.
One of the APC chieftains that were on a solidarity visit to the state party secretary was Pius Odubu, Patrick Obahiagbon.
In a statement, the state government accused Ize-Iyamu, Edo People’s Movement (EPM) and others of resorting to using explosives to destabilise the state.
The statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie and made available to newsmen in Benin City said the state chapter of the party was peace until the EPM and its enablers commenced the alleged nefarious activities across the state.
According to him, the Edo State Government has flayed allegations made by the former governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Osagie Ize-Iyamu, over the rising spate of political violence in the state.
“The resort to violence is the stock in trade of Ize-Iyamu, the suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and their cohorts in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM).
“We are quite flustered that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has not been able to rein in his people in the face of the reconstitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Reconciliation Committee, tasked to restore lasting peace in the party both in the state and across the country.
“We are committed to peace and would do right by the people of Edo State by continually supporting all credible means to arrive at a lasting peace in the state,” he stated.
He, however, urged the Presidency and the Inspector- General of Police (IGP) to call the national chairman of the party, Ize-Iyamu and their cohorts in the EPM, to order, so that the destructive descent to violence does not erode the good legacies that have been built over the years by the APC in Edo State.
He assured the people of the State of government’s resolve to maintain law and order, and ensure that the peace and safety in the state are not threatened by whatever means
