PDP Alleges Attempt to Arrest Star Witnesses in Edo Guber Election Tribunal
Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The Edo State Chapter of the People Democratic Party(PDP) yesterday, alleged that there was an attempt by security operatives to arrest the party’s star witnesses in the governorship election which resumes sitting today.
In a viral video, which had the candidate of the party in the September 21 election, Asue Ighodalo and the lead counsel to Ighodalo and PDP, Ken Mozia, SAN, and other party faithful, showed a plain cloth operative was trying to make an arrest and was being prevented.
One of the party officials in the video said that the counsel and the witnesses were going through what the situation would be like on Wednesday in the conference room of an hotel.
The official added, “All of a sudden, one of the security operatives said that the EFCC want to arrest witnesses of Ighodalo who are suppose to be in court on Wednesday in the first public hearing.
“They had no papers, they had no warrant of arrest, they had nothing and they just presented an identity card. Who does that? And taking into the fact that it is like reinforcing brazen criminality
“Ighodalo was even diplomatic and he let them to understand the enormity of what they are doing.”
“The State Security Services and the EFCC are not any offshoot of a political party or people who want to pervert justice. So they are doing this on the eve of the case.
“These witnesses are not on the run. There is no invitation prior to this time asking these people to report anywhere. They just came and there are three young who now went back to their vehicle and left the whole place in chaos.
An official of the hotel told journalists that the operatives said they are on investigation and that who they were looking for was not a lodger in the hotel before entering into the conference hall of the hotel which sparked the roar.
The Publicity Secretary of the State Caretaker Committee, Chris Nehikhare, described the act as disgraceful, noting EFCC has been unleashed on their witnesses to do the hatchet job.
He said: “It is disgraceful that Edo State government has been reduced to this. Where state powers are abused and in some cases act as the enforcement arm of the thugs.
“Just like they used the police to intimidate PDP chieftains and supporters during campaign and election, they have recruited EFCC to do the hatchet job on our witnesses.
“As this operation has failed today, we expect a deluge of thugs at the tribunal venue tomorrow(today,Wednesday) to disrupt proceedings just like they did at the INEC office when we wanted to go and examine election materials.”
However, a state government official said that what transpired in the video had nothing to do with the state government.
The official who pleaded anonymity said: “What happened had nothing to do with the state government. The PDP is bringing us into the issue but it has nothing to do with us.
An EFFC official in reply to a text message, said: “I don’t think it is EFFC.
