The All Progressives Congress has condemned the demolition of property belonging to former Deputy Governor of Edo, Pius Odubu, by the Edo government.

APC revealed this in a statement by the state Publicity Secretary, Chris Azebamwan, in Benin.

Mr Azebamwan explained that other party members whose property were demolished included Julius Ihonvbere (a lawmaker representing APC-Owan) and Mike Itemuagbon, a sports enthusiast.

“We recall that Governor Godwin Obaseki about this same time last year demolished a private property of an APC chieftain, Mr Tony Kabaka Adun.

“Unchallenged, he has taken a step further, all in a bid to intimidate, suppress, hound, crush and silence his perceived enemies.

“No doubt, it is part of the governor’s ‘Make Edo Great Again’ agenda to regularly and willfully demolish property belonging to perceived opponents and dissenting or critical voices in the state in the bid to foist a siege mentality on the citizenry.

“It is on record that Obaseki had earlier this year revoked the Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) of some property, but the demolition carried out while the case is in court is unacceptable because it amounts to a subversion of the rule of law,” he said.

He added, “The proper thing is for the government to wait for the outcome of the court process, but apparently because it knew that it was pursuing an illegal agenda, it demolished the property.”

He, however, urged the governor to perish the idea of trying to use false claims and propaganda to justify the demolition.

The statement explained further, “It is a direct recipe for crisis in our state. We caution against future action in this guise because it is borne out of hatred and political intolerance in furtherance of the larger plot by the Peoples Democratic Party and its administration to destroy the fabric that binds Edo people and eventually overheat the polity.”

(NAN)