- Safiu Kehinde
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have engaged in tug of words as they traded blames on the shooting incident at the Edo Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin, on Wednesday.
Following the incident, the APC Chairman in Edo, Jarret Tenebe, in a statement, described the shooting as “deeply disturbing and unacceptable act of violence that undermined the sanctity of the judicial process.”
Tenebe accused supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of carrying out what he described as the distardly act.
NPO reported the presence of a gunman suspected to be political thug at the Edo Federal High Court where the Tribunal proceeding was being held.
Disrupted the proceeding, the gunman, who wore PDP branded vest, shot sporadically in the air while shouting “give us our mandate”.
The shooting caused panic with lawyers, members of the tribunal and others at the proceedings fleeing for safety.
Tenebe, in the statement made available to the Newa Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the tribunal as a sacred space where justice was meant to be administered impartially.
“Any act of violence within its walls undermines the very foundation of our legal system and threatens the safety of all involved.
“Regardless of political affiliation, resorting to violence to resolve disputes is never justifiable.
“We must all condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms.
“Violence has no place in a civilised society, and those responsible for this heinous act must be brought to justice swiftly and without exception,” the chairman said.
However, in a counter-statement, the PDP in the state disassociated itself from the shooting incident.
The PDP chairman, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, described the incident as yet another in the series of clandestine efforts by the APC to frustrate the legal process and tarnish the image of the opposition party.
He accused the APC of deploying the thug in to disguise as a PDP member.
“The APC in Edo, who are clearly scared of justice, have continued their devious ploy to frustrate our party from reclaiming the mandate duly given to us by the good people of Edo in the last governorship election at the tribunal.
“They have now resorted to deploying thugs disguised in PDP-branded attire to disrupt the legal process, while pointing accusing fingers at our party,” Aziegbemi said.