Five persons, including the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Uyi Igbe and Majority Leader Philip Shaibu, have been arrested by the police for the attack on a lawmaker, Abdulrazaq Momoh.
Momoh was attacked on Tuesday, shortly after he scaled the fence into the legislative quarters, Government Reservation Area, Benin City, when guards refused to open the gate at 11pm.
It could not be confirmed if it was thugs or the security men who battered him.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited Igbe and Shaibu to appear in Abuja on Monday over a yet-to-be ascertained petition.
The Majority leader, who confirmed the EFCC invitation, said they went to the police headquarters on their volition but were detained for over three hours.
He said: “The EFCC has also invited us to Abuja on Monday. You could see the intimidation. When the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers, including Momoh, forcefully broke into the Assembly complex, the police did not invite them, let alone arresting them.”
“None of the court orders issued against them was obeyed; the police never did anything to enforce court orders. But you can see we have been detained here since for an issue we know nothing about.
“Secondly, the EFCC has invited us to Abuja. Nigeria is being embarrassed in South Africa for money laundering perpetrated by the Federal Government, and the EFCC has not done anything.
“Former Aviation Minister Ms Stella Oduah is moving freely round the country. This is an attempt to intimidate and eliminate all Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s loyalists before the elections.
“But the Federal Government must be careful. The EFCC has not arrested those people who stole our money but they are inviting us when we don’t award contracts. It is a plan to use federal might.
“The President should talk to his people because we cannot be intimidated.
“They are using government agencies wrongly because they have a PDP god father. The ex-minister was not arrested, they cannot cover up that mess and start inviting innocent lawmakers to Abuja.
“This is the 18th time I have been going to EFCC. We are still here for what we don’t know anything about. The court warned Momoh not to go near the quarters, he went there and the police did not do anything about that.
“These are plans to eliminate us but it will not work. The Presidency must be careful, everybody must obey the laws of the land, else Nigeria will become a banana republic,” he asserted.
Shaibu denied reports linking him to the attack. The Majority leader said he does not have hitmen.
“I’m prompted to debunk the claim because I don’t know anything about the incident. I only received information that an intruder, who scaled the fence of the legislative quarters, was dealt with.
“At the time of the incident, I was in my official residence and I do not leave my house at night, unless there are serious official engagements. So there was no way I could have been there during the attack.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Federal Government to incarcerate Oshiomhole’s loyalists.
The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Godwin Erhahon, said: “We are aware of the plots by the PDP to arrest, maim, and eliminate those perceived to be loyalists of Governor Oshiomhole.
“Momoh went there with thugs and it has nothing to do with our lawmakers. Why were they arrested by the police?
“But we want to warn that any attempt to intimidate our people in Edo State will be resisted. The PDP cannot use federal might to hunt our people. We are still battling Boko Haram; let us not face another war in Edo, it might be too much for the President to handle.”
Some youths in Auchi, Estako West Local Government Area, yesterday protested the attack on Momoh.
The protesting youths destroyed Shaibu’s campaign billboards and posters.
The government has warned detractors not to involve the governor in the matter.
A statement by Oshiomhole’s Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs Kassim Afegbua said rather than accuse the governor, the PDP should look inwards, especially as Momoh has a ‘history of violence’, which dates back to his days as a lecturer.
He said: “We wonder what Rasaq Momoh was doing at the Legislators’ Quarters at 11pm when he has been ejected from the place.
“It is curious that a supposed “honourable” member had to scale the fence to enter the quarters, in company of some of his thugs, because the gates had been locked. That act in itself portrays a sinister motive.
“We recall that as a member of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Momoh was arrested by a team of Operation Thunderstorm in April last year for unlawful possession of firearms during the local government elections.
“Even as a member of the ruling party, the governor insisted that he must be charged to court, a case which is still pending.
“If anything, Momoh’s grouse was about the governor’s refusal to shield him from prosecution which precipitated his eventual defection to the PDP in search for cover.
“We can say without equivocation that Oshiomhole does not have a history of violence in all his struggles in Nigeria both as a labour activist and as a governor.
“However, the PDP, to which Momoh belongs, has a long history of violence in the state and beyond. We recall how three members of the then ACN: Philip Shaibu, Johnson Oghuma and Kabiru Adjotor were macheted and axed by “honourable” PDP members in the House of Assembly four years ago.
“We wish to state that the governor cannot be intimidated by the deliberate and well-calculated attempts by the PDP and its godfathers to visit terror on its member and blame a third party.
“Only two weeks ago, we all watched with amazement the visit of terror on the judiciary in Ekiti by PDP thugs who are no doubt sympathetic to the governor-elect. Till date, no one has been brought to book for the desecration of the sacred altar of justice.
“We have, over the years, become very familiar with PDP’s crude plots and shenanigans aimed at distracting Oshiomhole but as a government that enjoys the mandate of the people, we will remain undaunted in our resolve to take Edo to the next level.”
