The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo state, on Saturday took a dangerous dimension, when the private residence of a chieftain of the party, Chief Francis Inegbeneki, was bombed in Benin City.
It was learnt that the attackers struck at about 3 am with two hand grenades which resulted in serious damage to his building and a motor vehicle parked in the compound located in the Government Reservation Area of Benin, off Ihama.
No one was hurt in the attack, as the news was broken to APC faithful at a rally hosted by Chief Inegbeneki at Opoji, to receive PDP defectors from the five local government areas of Esan Central Senatorial district of the state.
Reacting to the attack, Chief Inegbeneki, who was not at home at the time of the incident, said: “I got that information with a rude shock.
“Frankly, I am short of words, it must have been politically motivated. After this successful political rally, I am going to Benin to assess the damage.
Wondering why politics should be taken “this far”, Inegbeneki recalled that only recently the state governor, Godwin Obaseki has been threatening to deal with those opposed to him.
He warned that “For those drumming music of war they should be prepared to dance to the music”.
Chief Inegbeneki told journalists he suspected the governor and his deputy over the attack on his house and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue the people from the hands of Obaseki and his deputy, adding “Edo is under siege”.
He said that politics is about lobbying and urged Obaseki to lobby APC members instead of deploying force to coarse members into his camp. (The Sun)