A policeman, Inspector Onu Ako, was killed on Thursday during a homecoming reception for the reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu.
The policeman was attached to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, in the forthcoming September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state.
A police spokesperson in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor, said the incident occurred at 11 am along the Airport Road in the state, shortly after the entourage left the Benin Airport.
He announced that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, has issued a stern warning on political thuggery, noting that anyone culpable will be made to face the law.
He vowed that the killers of the policeman would be fished out and brought to book.
The APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have traded words over the killing of the officer.
Shaibu, whose efforts to get the governorship ticket of the PDP didn’t yield results, had declared support for APC’s Okpebholo against PDP’s Asue Ighodalo.
Shaibu, who has a running battle with Governor Godwin Obaseki, returned to Edo State on Thursday after his reinstatement as Edo deputy governor by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, months after he was impeached by the state assembly.
Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.
The court also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office. Justice Omotosho also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to restore his security details.
