The African Democratic Congress has said it will file a suit against the All Progressives Congress at the ECOWAS Court of Human Rights over Tuesday’s attack on Peter Obi and other party chieftains in Benin City, whilst accusing Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo of making statements that it says directly contributed to the violence.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said on Wednesday that the ADC was compiling a record of what it described as acts of terrorism by the ruling party against opposition figures, and would be presenting its findings to diplomatic missions across the West African sub-region alongside its court filing.
The most pointed allegation in Abdullahi’s statement concerned the governor directly. The ADC accused Okpebholo of saying, ahead of Obi’s visit, that he could not guarantee the former presidential candidate’s safety in Edo State — a claim that, set against what happened on Tuesday, the party is now treating as evidence of official incitement rather than a casual remark.
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The governor had also, according to the ADC, accused the party of sponsoring cultism and threatened to demolish properties belonging to opposition members in the state.
“Let it be said plainly: Nigeria is not a private estate. Edo State is not the personal property of any party or any governor,” Abdullahi said.
Tuesday’s attack occurred shortly after Obi and a group of ADC chieftains returned from the party’s secretariat, where they had formally received Olumide Akpata, Edo’s 2023 Labour Party governorship candidate, into the ADC. Armed men followed the group to the residence of John Odigie-Oyegun, shot at the gate, and damaged several vehicles. Photographs circulated at the time showed bullet holes in the gate and smashed windscreens on multiple SUVs parked within the compound.
Abdullahi warned that if further harm came to party leaders or members as a result of what he called a growing climate of official hostility, responsibility would lie with those who had stoked it. He pledged that the ADC would pursue all lawful measures to protect its members and urged supporters to continue their activities without fear.
