The Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, on Sunday, narrated how he narrowly escaped being assassinated by suspected assassins in the Etsako West Local Government Area of the state. Odubu, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress for the September 10 governorship election in Edo State, was attacked on Saturday by some armed thugs on his way to Auchi to meet with party delegates in the area.The thugs were allegedly paid N1m to carry out the act. According to the Odubu Campaign Organisation, “Surprisingly, at Auchi, the deputy governor and his team met with passionate, patriotic (and) huge number of delegates but no sooner had the meeting begun that gunmen opened fire outside the secretariat on both security men and members of the deputy governor’s entourage and delegates.
“The attack was orchestrated directly at his person and geared towards disrupting the aims of the campaign, seven persons sustained varying degrees of injuries and are receiving treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. This, to us, is the height of naked display of cruelty, animosity, acrimony, intolerance, gross irresponsibility and man’s inhumanity to man.” Speaking on behalf of the organisation, a former Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, listed the victims to include a DSS operative, Patrick Amakiri; his escort police commander, Inspector Agge Felix; and a driver, Zibiri Yakubu. Osagie called on the national leadership of the APC to intervene in the ongoing development in the state.
