The Edo State Government and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party have engaged in a war of words over the recent abduction of a young lady, Aisha Wahab, who was kidnapped in Auchi, Edo North, last Tuesday.
Wahab, who had in a viral video pleaded for help to raise ransom money, regained her freedom on Friday night.
Her abductors were said to have demanded N20m, prompting her aged mother to publicly appeal for assistance from well-meaning Edo residents.
However, the Edo State chapter of the PDP, in a statement on Saturday, said the incident exposed what it described as the “complete dereliction of duty” by the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The statement signed by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, read in part, “The tragic ordeal of Aisha Wahab has further exposed, beyond any debate, the complete dereliction of duty by the Monday Okpebholo-led administration.
“While the victim’s aged mother cried out publicly for help, the Edo State Government, whose foremost duty is the protection of lives and property, turned a blind eye, offering not even the courtesy of empathy or official intervention.”
The party said instead of mobilising the state’s security apparatus to rescue the victim, the government was preoccupied with what it described as “political comedy of promising 2.5 million votes for President Tinubu.”
“At a time when Edo people are bleeding and dying, the state’s leaders are counting imaginary ballots in servile loyalty to external masters. This is beneath governance; it is mockery.”
But reacting, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua, dismissed the PDP’s claims, insisting that the government “remains firmly on top of the security situation in the state.”
According to him, the successful release of Wahab proved “the government’s tactical efficiency and quiet effectiveness.”
He said, “Security tactics don’t allow for noise and fulmination, especially when kidnapping is involved. What the PDP wanted the Governor to do was to behave in a most ludicrous manner and apply cheap propaganda, then sing on television and social media platforms about Aisha Wahab.
“That would have been counterproductive. The security agents and our crack team of detectives applied all that was necessary and ensured that she was released unscathed.
“Those trying to use such a condemnable act to score cheap political points may very well be the architects of kidnapping activities in Edo State.”
Afegbua also accused the PDP of hypocrisy, recalling that under its government, even the state party chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, was kidnapped.
He said, “Osa-Ogbegie seems to have forgotten that their party chairman, Dr. Aziegbemi, was kidnapped while they held the reins and spent considerable time in captivity. The kidnappers must have given them a taste of their own medicine.”
