Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly condemned the violent attack on Peter Obi”], John Odigie-Oyegun”], Osunbor”,”former governor of Edo State”], Olumide Akpata.
In a statement, Abubakar criticized what he described as “reckless and inflammatory rhetoric” from elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress in Edo State, saying such language “dangerously legitimises violence against political opponents.”
He emphasized that “words, when weaponised, often precede actions,” warning that the Benin incident “did not occur in a vacuum.”
The former vice president expressed concern that Nigeria is entering a perilous phase where opposition voices are increasingly being physically targeted, in addition to bureaucratic harassment. “The ruling APC appears to have escalated its intolerance from bureaucratic suppression to open aggression,” he said.
Abubakar called on President Bola Tinubu and the nation’s security chiefs to fulfill their constitutional duty to protect lives and property “without discrimination or partisanship.”
He stressed that the safety of opposition leaders and supporters is not a favour, but a democratic obligation.
Concluding his statement, he warned: “Nigeria must not descend into a theatre where politics is settled by violence.”
