The political landscape in Edo State is heating up as the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) engage in a war of words over the rising cases of kidnapping and violence in the state. Edo State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paul Ohonbamu, has called on the PDP to refrain from inciting violence and heating the polity ahead of the election petition tribunal judgment.
The PDP has accused the state government of failing to address the deteriorating security situation, claiming that Edo has become the “capital of kidnapping and violent crimes” in Nigeria. According to the PDP, at least 22 people have been killed in recent weeks, and properties worth millions have been destroyed. The opposition party has also alleged that the state government receives N750 million monthly in security allocations, yet the insecurity persists.
In response, the Chief Press Secretary to Senator Monday Okpebholo, Fred Itua, has stressed that it was under the PDP leadership that cult violence left over 100 people dead, and the state’s PDP chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, was kidnapped in the heart of Benin. The state government has advised everyone to remain calm and patient for the tribunal’s judgment without fanning the embers of crisis from any quarter.
