Executive and members of Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), Edo State chapter, on Tuesday, berated Inspector General of Police for arresting a member and Executive Chairman of Esan West Local Government Council, Hon. Collins Aigbogun, whom, it said, was a complainant in a case of assault occassioning body harm, which he reported at the Ekpoma Police Divisional headquarters against the thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who recently unleashed attacks on him and some others members of PDP in Illeh area of Ekpoma in the locality.
Speaking during press conference with journalists at the state Council Secretariat, Benin City, the State Chairman of ALGON and Executive Chairman of Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Hon. Newman Ugiagbe, who led 15 other members, expressed their dismay over the ugly political development that currently unfolded in the state, especially as the governorship election has drawn close.
He said PDP members had continually been victimized by police from the Force Headquarters at the influence of the opposition, the APC, in the state and that the Esan West Council boss was abruptly beaten up and injured during attack on him, saying instead of him to get justice the police from Abuja whisked him away to Abuja, now as a suspect.
The ALGON boss demanded his immediate release in order to prevent the break down of law and order, maintaining that they are all law abiding citizens who work within the confines of the law to discharge their responsibilities to the people.
Ugiagbe said the PDP members had recently been victims of police harassment, intimidation and molestation, as many of their loyal supporters had been arrested at different locations across the state, noting that they would no longer tolerate it, especially having known Edo State to be the most peaceful state in the country.
He however appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the national president of ALGON to prevail on the Inspector General of Police to release all those that had been arrested, just as he had said that the incessant police harassment was politically motivated by the APC in order to disorganise them from participating in the forthcoming governorship election.
Confirming the report, the Commissioner of Police, Edo State, while addressing journalists at the Command’s headquarters in Benin City, admitted that Hon. Collins Aigbogun had been arrested and transferred to Abuja in order from above, saying he couldn’t have done anything in the matter.
Meanwhile, the leadership of APC has also accused Hon. Aigbogun of masterminding the brutal attack on some of its members in Ekpoma, saying those attacked sustained high degree of injuries.
