Hundreds of residents of Edo North Senatorial District on Thursday trooped to the streets to protest against the move by the Edo State House of Assembly to impeach the state’s Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.
OsunDailyNG reports that the protesters, under the aegis of Peace Movement, as well as some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo North, in the early hours on Thursday converged at Jattu, in Etsako West Local Government for the protest.
The protesters made up of men, women and youths, were armed with placards bearing various inscriptions, such as, ‘No to impeachment’, ‘We want peace in Edo State’, ‘Return the N500 million bribe to Obaseki’, ‘Shaibu is our Next Governor, no going back’, among others.
While decrying the impeachment proceedings commenced by the Edo State House of Assembly, they also appealed to the lawmakers to stay clear of any move to impeach the deputy governor in order to give the state its desired peace.
The spokespersons of the protesters, Aminu Umosor, Gafata Emmanuel and Haija Anetu Momodu, said they would mobilise the people of the state and the PDP to work against the party if the House goes ahead with the impeachment.
“This is to show all Edo people that we stand by Philip Shaibu and the mandate we gave to him. If Governor Obaseki and the House of Assembly are ready for dialogue and true reconciliation, they should come with clean hands and not impeachment notice,” they said.
The protesters, who warned the legislators against the impeachment, vowed that the protest would continue until Governor Obaseki and the lawmakers embrace peace.
Meanwhile, Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Musa Ebomhiana, said efforts were on to resolve matter.
“The PDP as a party has stepped in as a family to resolve the matter. The umbrella is big enough to accommodate everyone,” he assured.
