Osagie Blames Shaibu For Thursday’s Violence In Benin
By Thompson Eferakeya
The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, has blamed the erstwhile deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu for the violence that erupted in Benin City on Thursday. He said the wanton destruction of property and the loss of life of an officer in Benin City was triggered by Shaibu’s resort to self help in a bid to actualise the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja which reinstated him.
Osagie contended that the attendant violence that greeted Philip Shaibu return to Edo State was a confirmation of the fact that Shaibu’s predisposition to violence is legendary as confirmed by no less a person than the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike a few years back.
Osagie stated this while fielding questions on Channels TV on Thursday night monitored by our reporter.
Osagie accused Shaibu of precipitating the violence in the vain hope that everything must be taken and achieved through violent means without recourse to who might be affected by his actions.
“Everybody who knows Philip Shaibu, knows he is a marchant of violence. If you remember in the year 2020, our royal father called out Philip Shaibu and warned him against his act of violence. Philip Shaibu believes that if there is anything to be taken, it should be taken by violence.
“You can also remember Wike also drew the attention of the Nigerian public to the destruction and violence tendency of Philip Shaibu and that was in 2022.
“Philip Shaibu got a judgement in Abuja and that judgement has been appealed, there is a stay of execution and the IGP has been served the stay of execution and Philip just thinks that the way to come to the government is to come with thugs, he lands at the airport , he is shooting at people, destroying vehicles, and then in the process, he cooked up a story and he begins to sell.
“I think we need to grow up beyond this point of madness in our politics in Nigeria.
“Philip Shaibu caused mayhem in Edo today for no reasons other than the pretence of trying to actualise a judgement which has since been appealed.
“Why should we send thugs after him? There is only one deputy governor in Edo State, Omobayo Godwins.
“He (Shaibu) got a judgement in Abuja, the judgment has been appealed. So, why would we want to throw our state into chaos? Philip is the only person who has something to benefit in a chaotic situation here.
“He is trying to make it look like there is a problem. He is the only one who can benefit from it and that is why he orchestrated it. If you look at it, if you look at the motorcade, you don’t see any government persons there . All you can see are all his thugs.
“I believe the police are going to investigate this and come up with a thorough report but I am just warning . It is not new to anyone of us. It is very glare. In 2020, the Oba of Benin warned him. He said, “I know you are the violent one”, Osagie said.
Osagie noted that Shaibu is no longer the deputy governor and he doesn’t have immunity and that he is calling on all the security agencies to investigate, and bring him to justice for this unnecessary destructions that has led to the loss of a life of an officer.
Also, while speaking on the Legacy Group of the party, Osagie maintained that the arrow head of the group, Dan Orbih, has since been suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He equally insisted that the absence or presence of Philip Shaibu will make little or no significant impact on the party as he has always lost his ward to Adams Oshiomhole.
“To the best of my understanding, that issue of legacy group is long concluded. The purveyor of that disagreement is the person of Dan Orbih. He has since been suspended by the National Working Committee of the PDP and we have moved on and Philip Shaibu has declared his intentions to support the APC candidate, we welcomed it.
“Let him move on. He never won Etsako anyway . The three local government areas in Etsako are in the pocket of Oshiomhole. Whether we have Philip Shaibu on our side anyway, Adams Oshiomhole is going to beat him. So we don’t really need Philip in our camp to win the election.
“Whether Philip Shaibu is on our side, Oshiomhole will beat him in Etsako West, East and Central. Adams Oshiomhole will even beat him inside his bedroom. So, why should we need him? We don’t need him. We have counted our losses and we know that we don’t do too well in that part of the state, Edo North because of Adams Oshiomhole whose popularity Philip Shaibu can’t contest against.
“So, we have our strategies for Edo North, Akoko-Edo, Owan West and Owan East. We count our losses from Etsako side, take what we can from Akoko-Edo, Owan West and Owan East, our candidate is the most preferred candidate across the state.
“In Edo Central, it is going to be a landslide in our favour, in Edo South, is going to be a landslide in our favour. We are confident that we are going to win the election. We don’t need Philip.
“He was never a game changer. He is in the same local government with Oshiomhole. He never won his ward”, Osagie said.
Reacting to the destruction of billboards, Osagie absolved the PDP from the wanton destructions of political billboards in the state noting that the PDP was even the worst hit.
He further appealed to the federal government to provide a level playing field for all the political parties in the state pointing out that the federal government controls all the security architectures just as he said that he believes that President Bola Tinubu will do the needful by providing a level playing field for all parties in the state.
