Obaseki’s spokesman: No militia raised to attack opponents of government

Crusoe Osagie, special adviser to the governor of Edo state on media and communication strategy, says the administration of Godwin Obaseki, the governor, is pursuing a “holistic strategy” to ensure the security of lives and property.

The governor’s aide said this while reacting to reports that the Public Works Volunteer (PUWOV) scheme is a militia.

A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC, had accused the government of Obaseki of training a militia group to terrorise the governor’s political opponents.

But Osagie dismissed the claim, saying such allegations emanate from those with an intent to undermine security and public order in the state.

“The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to a malicious new analysis published on the front page and page 44 of Vanguard Newspaper of February 25, 2020, alleging that the Edo State Governor is training a militia group in the state,” he said in a statement.

“The report is erroneous and unfounded and is being spread by those with an intent to cause crisis and perpetuate violence in the state. It is a tactic of Comrade Oshiomhole and his co-travellers in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) to spread lies and half-truths to cause disaffection among the people.

“We have severally raised the alarm over the penchant of Comrade Oshiomhole to cause crisis and instigate violence in the state, which have been manifested in his flagrant breach of protocol when he visits the state as well as the recent outburst about the Supreme Court verdict, in Bayelsa which snowballed to violence in Bayelsa and Rivers States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

The governor’s aide said those who label the PUWOV scheme a militia do not mean well for Edo people as they are attempting to undermine government’s effort at grooming a community-led policing effort in the state.