The Department of State Services (DSS) has apprehended a social media user in connection with the recent assassination attempt on the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi in Benin, the Edo state capital.
Barely a week ago, national coordinator of the Obidient movement, Yunusa Tanko said Obi and some chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) were attacked at the residence of a chieftain of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun.
Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2024 Edo governorship election, Olumide Akpata disclosed that his cousin’s head was smashed with a bottle during the attack.
Shortly after the incident, a man identified as Udeme Stephen purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on his X account, @stevetom788, and threatened further violence against Obi.
In the post, Stephen said Obi was “lucky” to have survived the Benin attack and warned that he would not be spared in future visits, including a planned trip to Rivers State.
“We warned Obi against his entrance into Edo State but he mistook our resolves to obidiots online noise. Thank his stars he survived this one.
“I learnt he’s going to my Rivers State. No wahala. Na my MEN go handle that one and dem no dey miss target.
“Speak no peace to a bastard and wish him no long life, for he’s destined to die one,” he wrote.
However, according to a security source, DSS operatives immediately launched a covert investigation, using forensic tools to track the suspect.
The insider said the suspect the 26-year-old man was traced to Rivers state, where he works as a teacher at Jessica High School in the Eliozu, Obio-Akpor LGA.
“I strongly believe that the outcome of the agency’s forensic investigations implicated the suspect.
“You know that, as a responsible security organisation saddled with the task of counter-espionage and VIP protection, among other asset protection duties, the DSS is always alive to its responsibility of investigating credible intelligence, irrespective of tribe or religion.
“They swiftly deployed operatives, and the man who threatened Peter Obi was nabbed and is in custody, the source was reported by The Cable as saying, assuring that the suspect would soon be charged in court.
