A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata has reacted to reports that he has a hand in the arrest of the party’s national Chairman, Julius Abure and 4 others.
The immediate past national chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, denied his alleged involvement in the police operation which took place in Benin City on Wednesday.
Julius Abure was arrested by police operatives from Zone 5 in Benin City.
Akpata in a statement, slammed Kenneth Imasuagbon, one of the party’s aspirants, for allegedly linking him to the arrest of the party’s chairman.
He alleged that Imasuagbon made reckless and unfounded comments linking him to the ordeal of the party’s chairman.
“I have been made aware of reckless and unfounded comments made by Mr Kenneth Imasuagbon in the press yesterday, February 21, 2024, where he accused me of being behind the recent arrest and detention of Comrade Julius Abure, National Chairman of the Labour Party, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi, Edo State Chairman of the Labour Party, and other party officials by the Nigeria Police Force.
Let me categorically state that these allegations made by Mr Imasuagbon, who claims to be a lawyer and should therefore know better, are completely false and, frankly, very irresponsible. I had absolutely no involvement whatsoever in the arrests he referred to.
“As we have been told by the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 5, Zonal Headquarters, the arrests stemmed from an entirely separate incident that occurred in Benin City on December 29, 2023, where one Comrade Anselm Eragbe, a former National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, was allegedly assaulted.
“Comrade Eragbe thereafter submitted a petition on the attack, accusing the arrested officials of orchestrating the incident. It was this petition that prompted a police investigation and subsequent arrests.
“I must make it clear that I have no connection at all to this unfortunate matter, beyond also being falsely accused on national television on December 29, 2023, of being responsible for the incident involving Comrade Eragbe.
“As someone falsely implicated in this matter, I have a strong interest in the outcome of the police investigation to clear my name fully,” Akpata said.
However, he expressed concern over the arrest of the party’s national chairman and other party officials barely 48 hours before the party’s governorship primary election in Edo State.
He also expressed worry over the delay in the release of the party’s delegates’ list of the ward congresses conducted last Tuesday.