Adekunbi Ero
Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shaibu says it is not true that he had a stockpile of COVID-19 palliatives in his country home in Jattu, Etsako West local government area of the state. Debunking the claim following an invasion of his residence by some hoodlums in search of palliatives, Shaibu explained that “All palliatives that were sent to Edo North were disbursed directly to the local Government for instant distribution to the beneficiaries”.
A statement on Monday by Benjamin Atu, senior special assistant to the deputy governor on media, insisted that Edo North did not have a central reserve where palliatives were kept, stressing that “The State has only one center and that’s not in Edo North”.
Atu described the allegation as a “wicked and dubious excuse by detractors” to attack the deputy governor’s home and destroy his properties. He accused the opposition of sponsoring the thugs whom he claimed had in the past four days, attempted to invade and destroy properties belonging to his principal under the guise of searching for palliatives and #EndSARS protests, despite the imposition of curfew and suspension of protests across the state by the government.
Atu confirmed that: “These sponsored thugs invaded the conference Hall of the Deputy Governor’s residence in the early hours of today (Monday), but security operatives who have been on the alert, repelled and apprehended them and subsequently moved them from Jattu to Benin City. As we speak they are in transit to Benin City.
“On their mission to the property of the Deputy Governor, I can’t speak until the police conclude their investigation. The fact that we want to establish is that at least it has been confirmed that No palliative is in the House of the Deputy Governor”.
The deputy governor’s spokesman called for the immediate arrest of anyone connected to what he described as “the deliberate effort to undermine peace and security in the State in their desperation to make the forth-coming second-term inauguration in the state impossible”.
Atu posited that “Any person or group of persons making efforts to scuttle the inauguration arrangement should be made to face the wrath of the law”.
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