21st February, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Labour Party, LP, National Chairman, Julius Abure, has, been arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Police Force in Edo State along with four others.
Tijani Momoh, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 5, covering Edo and Delta states, said Abure and the others were arrested for attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and other related offences.
The LP chairman’s arrest is coming following a petition by the party’s Youth Leader, Comrade Eragbe Anselm Aphimia.
The youth leader petitioned the Edo State Commissioner of Police alleging that he was attacked by some party members in December 2023.
The petition was addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, and dated February 13.
Parts of the petition read, “I, Comrade Eragbe Anselm, write to you with utmost urgency and grave concern regarding a heinous act of violence perpetrated against me on the 29th of December 2023.
“I am a member and National Youth Leader of the Labour Party (LP) in Nigeria, and the events I am about to recount are of utmost importance for justice and the safety of individuals involved in political activities.
“On December 28, 2023, I flew into Benin City Airport around 2 p.m. as part of an official 5-member delegation authorised by the Acting National Chairman of the Labour Party, Alhaji Lamidi Basiru Apapa.
“Our mission was to organise Ward, LGA, and State Congresses in Edo State, as well as supervise the sale of nomination forms for various posts, as mandated by INEC guidelines, within the stipulated time frames.
“On arrival at the Benin Airport, I was received by one Mrs Mary Okheime Newberry, who falsely claimed to be providing transportation and accommodation on behalf of unnamed “stakeholders.”
“She proceeded to lodge us at the Smart Homes Hotel, unknown to us that she was plotting a sinister and gruesome ambush. The next morning, a man named Austin Emeka came to pick me and my colleague, Mr Patrick Anethua, up from the hotel lobby, pretending to take us to a meeting venue.
“Instead, we were violently attacked just outside the hotel gates by a waiting mob.”
However, addressing journalists on Wednesday, Momoh said the “arrest of the factional chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure and four others” has to do with a “written petition that was endorsed by the AIG Zone 5 from the office of the Inspector General of Police”.
He said that the suspects were arrested for attempted murder and that video clips and recordings show how the petitioner was being “assaulted, being beaten when he came home last year to conduct ward matters”.
“It is a case of attempted murder, conspiracy, illegal possession of arms and other related offences,” he said.
According to Momoh, Abure and the other suspects were also in “possession of firearms; a shotgun and three rounds of ammunition”.
He added that the investigation into the matter was still ongoing.