The Edo State government has alleged that the former governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were synonymous with violence.
The government therefore accused both of allegedly being behind the rising spate of political violence in the state.
It also noted that it does not believe in violence as he (Ize-Iyamu), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and their followers in Edo Peoples Movement, EPM, do.
The government was reacting to the allegation by Ize-Iyamu, who recently defected to the APC, that the government of Godwin Obaseki was responsible for the rising incidences of political violence in the state.
In a statement issued in Benin City, the Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, said the state chapter of the APC was peaceful until EPM and its sponsors began to unleash violence across the state.
“we are quite flustered that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has not been able to rein in his people in the face of the reconstitution of All Progressives Congress (APC) National Reconciliation Committee, tasked to restore lasting peace in the party both in the state and across the country.
“We are committed to peace and would do right by the people of Edo State by continually supporting all credible means to arrive at lasting peace in the state.
“It is rather curious that with Ize-Iyamu coming back into the political space in the last three months, extreme political violence has resurfaced with bombs going off in parts of the state and gunmen attacking politically-exposed persons.
“We have stated before that EPM, under the sponsorship of Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and others, having lost out of the political power play in the state and failed repeatedly in their inordinate quest to seize power from Governor Godwin Obaseki through undemocratic means, have now resorted to violence to create a sense of a breakdown of law and order with the intent of forcing the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.”
He urged the Presidency and the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, to call Comrade Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and their cohorts in EPM to order to tame the spade of violence in the state.
The statement also assured Edo people of government’s resolve to maintain law and order, and ensure that peace and safety in the state are not threatened by whatever means.
