The Labour Party has issued a statement in response to the arrest of its National Chairman, Julius Abure, and the state chairman of the party, Kelly Ogbaloi, by heavily armed security personnel in Edo state. The party’s national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, signed the statement, which accused the security forces of trying to disrupt the party’s gubernatorial primaries in the state.
According to the statement, a large crowd of protesters gathered outside the Zone 5 headquarters of the Police Command in Benin City on Wednesday to demand the release of Abure and Ogbaloi. The party had held a successful delegate election in Benin the previous day, ahead of the scheduled primaries on Friday. Abure and several party governorship aspirants had attended a security briefing with the Department of State Security earlier that morning, but Abure was arrested by a combined team of DSS and police officers after the meeting.
The statement alleges that Abure, Ogbaloi, and their aides were also manhandled during the arrest. Despite efforts by party leaders to gain access to the police headquarters, they were turned away due to the large crowd of party supporters who were expressing their displeasure over the arrests.
A police source informed party officials and governorship aspirants at the gate of the police headquarters that the arrest was in connection with a protest letter by one of the expelled members of the party loyal to the Apapa dissident camp. The source also confirmed that the arrest was related to the ongoing party primary and the possible candidate that would emerge. The state government is allegedly vehemently opposed to the candidate that the party would choose.
The source further informed that the arrest was intended to frustrate the primary process and possibly interrupt the party’s participation in the governorship election. The Deputy National Chairman of the Party, Dr. Ayo Olurunfemi, stated in a video post that no form of intimidation from the highest quarters could stop the party from concluding the process leading to the emergence of the Labour Party government in the state.