There was fracas outside the Edo State High Court on Monday as Tony Kabaka and Kelly Okungbowa, popularly known as Ebo Stone, two All Progressive Congress (APC) loyalists, demanded the exit of an unnamed Department of State Services (DSS) operative.
In a 34-second clip FIJ saw on X, Kabaka can be heard telling policemen to get people out of the court premises if he and his henchmen were to leave.
“If you want my boys to leave, tell those buses. People are inside, let them leave,” he tells the police.
“They will tell you they are inside because they have witnesses. We have witnesses, too.”
Stone then charges in one direction and points saying, “Especially this boy, this DSS boy. You must have problem there. You… He should come out, if he doesn’t come out, we will cause problem here.”
“This DSS people you must have problem, if they don’t come out we will cause problem here” – Ebo Stone at Federal High Court, Benin City pic.twitter.com/MUkmXsdD4K— The Benin Blogger (@TheBeninBlogger) January 20, 2025
During this outburst, the police stood around and watched as others begged both men to be calm.
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FIJ called Kabaka on Monday and he said the reason for his outburst was the presence of a DSS official assigned to Asue Ighodalo, the People’s Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state.
“DSS that we know was with Asue [Ighodalo], was at the gate entrance,” Kabaka told FIJ.
“There are DSS officials assigned to protect the court, but this particular one attached to Asue and he was not to be anywhere near the court. It did not last longer than 10 minutes. The police told him to leave.”
He denied inciting violence and said he and Stone only wanted the court process to hold without political influence.
FIJ called Moses Yamu, the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, but he said he had not heard of the incident.
The PDP and six other parties are contesting the result of the September 21 gubernatorial election in the state that saw APC’s Monday Okpebholo emerge victorious.
The post Tony Kabaka, Henchmen Besiege Edo Gov Tribunal Venue, Demand DSS Operative’s Eviction appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.