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Workers Stranded as Political Thugs Shut Etsako West LGA Secretariat
Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The face-off between Edo State Government and the council chairmen is about to take a violent dimension which may severely undermine the effective operation of the councils in the state if the federation government does not restrain the Senator Monday Okpebholo led administration.
This is as suspected political thugs yesterday took laws into their hands and took over control of the Etsako West Council Secretariat, Auchi, leaving council workers stranded and unable to gain entry into the secretariat..
This troubling development appears to be directly linked to the state government’s apparent strategy to block the reinstated council chairmen from returning to their offices.
The Council Chairman, Marvellous Zibiri, was among the 18 LGC chairmen who received a reprieve from a High Court ruling that mandated no obstacles should impede the suspended chairmen from resuming their roles.
n spite this court order, and rather appealing the court judgement, Zibiri was physically barred from accessing his office located within the council secretariat.
The Etsako West Council chairman, in a statement, had proclaimed that he had resumed office following the court’s judgment.
However, a visit to the council secretariat in Auchi presents a different reality as
the main entrance to the council was blocked by a group of fierce-looking thugs said to have been allegedly sponsored by the state government to make sure the council chairman and his deputy do not gain access to the council.
Also, council workers who reported for duty met the whole place barricaded by the thugs and were forced to gather under the trees outside the secretariat to converse in hushed tones about this alarming situation, careful not to provoke the thugs.
A police van was also positioned at both the entrance and outside the council, but the deployed officers from the local government police command were few and appeared indifferent to the chaos unfolding before them.
Many council workers voiced their frustration over the apparent tacit support the police were giving to the thugs.
They complained bitterly about the latest development where the police provided the cover for the thugs, arguing that if indeed they were present to maintain order, they should have dismantled the barricades, expelled the thugs, and opened the gates to allow the workers to resume their responsibilities.
According to a council staff, who pleaded anonymity, “The obvious inaction of the police strongly supports the notion that their presence served merely to facilitate the illegality of preventing the council chairmen from resuming their roles.”