By Simeon OSAJIE
The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday condemned in the strongest terms the daylight attack, stripping, and humiliation of Dr. Pedro Agbonifo Obaseki at Uwa Primary School, Benin City, by a mob.
This was contained in a statement signed by Dan Osa-Ogbegie, Esq., State
Publicity Secretary (SPS) of the party made available to journalists in Benin, the state capital.
According Ogbegie, “The daylight attack, stripping, and dehumanising humiliation of Dr. Pedro Agbonifo Obaseki at Uwa Primary School, Benin City, by a mob now widely identified as overzealous youth members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who have become a recurring decimal in acts of assault, intimidation, and political violence across Edo State, especially Benin City since last year.
“What occurred on Sunday was not a spontaneous outburst. It was a premeditated ambush. Dr. Obaseki, who had gone to play football at his regular spot, was accosted by a mob, harassed, threatened with death, stripped naked, and forcibly dragged towards the Palace of the Oba of Benin. Videos circulating widely leave no room for doubt. This was barbarism in its rawest form. It was evil, uncivilised, and utterly repugnant.
“This conduct does not represent the character, history, or values of the Benin people. Benin civilisation is renowned for dignity, restraint, order, and respect for human worth. The hooligans who carried out this atrocity do not speak for Benin, nor do they embody its culture. They are a disgrace to it.
“Dr. Pedro Obaseki is an illustrious son of Benin, a respected intellectual and media voice whose scholarship and advocacy have enriched Edo and Nigeria. He poses no threat to public peace. On the contrary, with his pen, insight, and global reach, he has served as a cultural and intellectual asset. To brutalise such a citizen in public view is to drag Edo’s name through the mud before the world.
“This incident must be situated within a wider and deeply disturbing pattern. Over the past year, Edo State has witnessed an alarming descent into lawlessness, street violence, intimidation, and the normalisation of mob action, largely driven by politically protected thugs masquerading as party loyalists. Assaults go unpunished. Perpetrators are shielded. Official silence has become policy. The result is a climate of fear in which citizens are uncertain of their safety and sceptical of state protection.”
Going further, the statement added, “The PDP notes with grave concern attempts by some to cloak this criminality in the garb of traditional grievance. For the avoidance of doubt, no palace, including the revered institution of the Oba of Benin Palace, sanctions human rights violations. No tradition authorises torture, stripping, or degrading treatment. If any citizen is alleged to have committed an offence, the police station, not the street, is the lawful venue. No individual, no mob, and no political gang is above the law.
“It must also be firmly placed on record that all Edo people are loyal children and servants of Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, the Oba of Benin. Our allegiance, as Benin or Edo people, is first and foremost to the Edo Nation, which the Oba embodies in history, culture, authority, and moral leadership. No true Benin man undermines that sacred bond. To suggest otherwise is either ignorance or mischief.
“None of the overzealous assailants of Dr. Pedro Agbonifo Obaseki has done one per cent of what he has contributed to the advancement, intellectual defence, and positive global projection of Benin civilisation, a fact that even senior Palace Chiefs can readily attest to. Dr. Obaseki understands deeply the values of the Oba and the symbiotic, sacred relationship between the throne and the people. Like most true Benin men, he would defend, protect, and guide the institution of the Oba of Benin with his life. Any attempt to weaponise the revered institution of the Oba to justify criminality, mob action, or political thuggery is a gross insult to the throne and a dangerous distortion of Benin values.
“We are compelled to ask troubling questions arising from credible reports that Dr. Pedro Obaseki was eventually taken to a police station. On what legal basis was the victim of a violent assault conveyed to the police, while his assailants roamed free? Why was the full coercive power of the State not immediately deployed against those who stripped, brutalised, and publicly humiliated a citizen? This inversion of justice, where the violated is treated as suspect and the violators are indulged, strikes at the heart of the rule of law.
“In this regard, the PDP directly calls on the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, to rise to the solemn constitutional duty of his office. The Commissioner must protect citizens, not behave like a partisan appendage of the APC. Law enforcement must not be reduced to a political instrument. Only days ago, Edo people were confronted with public complaints concerning the brutal assault of a lady by one Shaba, who allegedly battered her with impunity. Before that, the State watched in shame as Ebo Stone physically assaulted a female journalist inside Edo Government House itself. In all these cases, justice has been lethargic, selective, or altogether absent.
“The continued silence of the APC-led government in the face of violence perpetrated by persons visibly connected to it is damning. Government exists to protect citizens, not to look away while thugs terrorise them. The refusal to act emboldens criminality and signals approval by omission. That is unacceptable.
“This episode further compounds Edo’s worsening public image, portraying the State to national and international audiences as hostile, unsafe, and intolerant of dissent. At a time when Edo should be attracting investment, tourism, and goodwill, this administration has reduced the State to viral infamy.”
The PDP therefore demands the immediate identification, arrest, and prosecution of all persons involved in the assault, trial by ordeal, and humiliation of Dr. Pedro Obaseki, regardless of political affiliation.
“A clear and unequivocal disassociation by all traditional institutions from this criminal act.
“A public explanation from the Edo State Government and the Police Command for their failure to protect a citizen and their apparent tolerance of mob violence.
“Concrete and visible measures to dismantle political thuggery and restore the rule of law in Edo State.
“We extend our profound sympathy to Dr. Pedro Obaseki and his family. Ambassadors of his stature should be celebrated, not brutalised. This cowardly act must not deter him, or any Edo citizen, from speaking truth, defending dignity, or contributing to the collective advancement of our State.
“Power is transient. Governments come and go. But the stain of barbarism endures where justice is denied. Edo must be healed, and it will only be healed by accountability, lawful conduct, and the restoration of decency in governance.
“Edo State is not a crime scene. Benin is not a jungle.
“DAN Osa-Ogbegie, Esq.
Publicity Secretary
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Edo State Chapter
28 December 2025.”