I did not sponsor thugs to kill Shaibu, APC’s Okpebholo – says PDP chieftain

By Motunrayo Ajala

Francis Inegbeniki, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied he sponsored the assailants who attacked Edo’s deputy governor Phillip Shaibu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo.

TheCornet had reported how some gunmen opened fire on the motorcade of the two politicians as they were making their way out of Benin airport on Thursday. A police officer was killed in the attack.

In his statement denying his involvement, Inegbeniki, said, “ It is not true that I led or sponsored thugs who attacked the convoy of Senator Monday Okpebholo.

“As I speak, I am in my village, I was never on airport road when or as at the time the said incident took place.”

The politician “urge the government, security agencies and the general public to disregard the falsehood “

“ The election is around the corner, and I quite understand that my enemies would do anything desperately to blackmail me or tarnish my reputation”

” The statement issued by media aide to Senator Monday Okpebolo, linking me to the incident is an attempt to malign my integrity and also mislead the general public,” he said.

Until his defection to the PDP, Francis Inegbeniki was a member of the APC and had aspired to become a senator under its platfrom in 2015.