Ovie Omo-Agege, the deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, has condemned alleged assassination attempt on the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, in Benin City, the Edo state capital.
Omo-Agege said this in a statement by his spokesperson, Yomi Odunuga, made available to The Trent on Sunday, October 13, 2019.
Oshiomhole was reported to have escaped a major attempt on his life by armed thugs who swooped on his Benin residence in Okorotun Street, GRA, on Saturday, October 12, 2019. The thugs were said to have shot sporadically into the air.
Describing the development as callous, cowardly, inhumane and totally unacceptable that should be condemned by all, the Deputy Senate President noted that politics in the country should not be allowed to degenerate to “a situation where violence becomes the language of activism by both politicians and their supporters no matter how disgruntled such persons may be”.
The lawmaker called on the Police to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book.
This, he noted, would serve as a deterrent to others that political violence is not the best way to resolve conflicts, if any.
“Such criminal attack, remains utterly condemnable and illegal. Whatever their grievances, they should learn to explore dialogue rather than resort to violence,” he said.
“I call on the police to get to the root of the matter by prosecuting those involved in the act. It is my belief that the fine principles and ethos of democratic practice do have inbuilt mechanisms through which internal wrangling can be resolved without recourse to violence as it was the case in Edo State on Saturday.
“I would like to call on the parties involved to explore those options that would strengthen the party as entrenched in the constitution of the APC as that is the best way to move the state and the nation to the Next Level in which all citizens are expected to reap the dividends of the trust they reposed in the government led by President Muhammadu Buhari”, he stated.
Omo-Agege urged parents to caution their wards against political violence, adding that the attack negates democratic principles.
