- The impeached Deputy Governor of the state, Phillip Shaibu, was with Okpebholo during the attack.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, had a close shave with death on Thursday after his convoy came under attack by gunmen suspected to be political thugs.
The impeached Deputy Governor of the state, Phillip Shaibu, was with Okpebholo during the attack on Thursday afternoon.
The duo had reportedly just left the Benin Airport on arrival from Abuja when a clutch of armed men in a Sienna vehicle parked at the exit gate of the airport opened fire on them.
Godswill Inegbe, Legislative Aide to Okpebholo, in charge of Media & Communication, confirmed the incident.
In a statement he issued on Thursday, he said Okpebholo has been admitted in an undisclosed hospital following the attack in Benin City.
A policeman in Okpebholo’s convoy was reportedly killed in the attack, while two others sustained injuries.
He disclosed that other members of his entourage who were injured in the attack were also receiving in different hospitals.
He said, “This afternoon, the motorcade of Senator Monday Okpebholo, the APC governorship candidate, was brutally attacked by members of Edo State Security Network and State government-sponsored thugs.
“During the unprovoked brutal attack, three mobile policemen attached to the security detail of Senator Okpebholo were injured with bullets wound, while one of the policemen has been declared dead
“Senator Monday Okpebholo is at this moment admitted in an undisclosed hospital in Benin receiving medical attention, and other members of his entourage who were victims of the brutal attack are in various hospitals in Benin City.”.