Gunmen Attack Peter Obi, ADC Leaders in Benin
An alleged armed attack on former presidential candidate Peter Obi and chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Benin City, Edo State on Tuesday has thrown fresh alarm over the safety of opposition political figures in Nigeria, with bullet holes left on the gate of former All Progressives Congress National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun’s residence and several vehicles destroyed in what survivors described as a coordinated assault.
The incident, which occurred during political activities surrounding the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata as a member of the ADC, was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja by Dr Yunusa Tanko, Peter Obi’s former campaign spokesman and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide.
According to Tanko’s statement, the group had been at the ADC Secretariat for Akpata’s formal declaration ceremony when armed individuals began following them. The assailants subsequently trailed the convoy to Odigie-Oyegun’s residence, where they opened fire.
“Peter Obi and the leadership of the ADC are under siege and attack in Benin, Edo State,” Tanko’s statement read. “At the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata into the African Democratic Congress, armed individuals followed us from the ADC Secretariat to the residence of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. They shot at the gate and destroyed several vehicles in what appears to be a survived assassination attempt on our lives. Democracy is in danger.”
Photos and videos shared by Tanko showed multiple sport utility vehicles with their windscreens smashed, while the gate of Odigie-Oyegun’s Benin City residence bore visible bullet damage. Obi and some ADC chieftains were captured in the images examining the damaged vehicles and the scarred gate in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
The identities of the suspected attackers had not been officially established as of the time of this report, and no arrests had been publicly announced. Security agencies and the Edo State Government had equally not issued any formal statement acknowledging or responding to the incident as of press time.
The circumstances raise immediate questions about the level of coordination behind the attack, given that the assailants reportedly followed the convoy from the ADC Secretariat — suggesting prior knowledge of the group’s movements and destination.
The presence of Peter Obi at the scene significantly elevates the political weight of the incident. Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, remains one of the most prominent opposition figures in Nigeria. His candidacy galvanised an unprecedented wave of civic enthusiasm — particularly among young, urban Nigerians — under the banner of the Obidient movement, which has since evolved into a continuing political organisation with national reach.
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, at whose residence the attack occurred, is a deeply established figure in Nigeria’s political landscape. A former Governor of Bendel State — which later became Edo and Delta states following the 1991 division — Oyegun served as National Chairman of the APC from 2014 to 2018, playing a central role in the formation of the ruling party and its early electoral successes. His home in Benin City has long been a gathering point for political consultations in Edo State, and his hosting of opposition figures signals a significant realignment in his political associations.
Olumide Akpata, whose formal declaration into the ADC was the occasion for Tuesday’s gathering, is a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), a position he held from 2020 to 2022. Akpata built a reputation during his NBA tenure for outspokenness on the rule of law and judicial independence. His entry into the ADC marks his formal transition into electoral politics and adds considerable profile to a party that has historically struggled for mainstream visibility.
The African Democratic Congress, registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission, has in recent months attracted increasing attention as a platform for opposition political activity, particularly as figures disillusioned with both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party have sought alternative vehicles. The party’s growing association with the Obidient movement and figures of Obi’s stature has placed it under heightened scrutiny — and, critics of the current political order would argue, heightened risk.
Tuesday’s attack, if confirmed as politically motivated, would represent one of the most serious direct security threats to a nationally prominent opposition gathering in recent Nigerian political history.
The Benin attack did not occur in isolation. It came barely 24 hours after the ADC and the Obidient Movement formally rejected the outcome of the February 21 chairmanship election in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), one of the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Christopher Maikalangu of the APC as the winner of the AMAC chairmanship election, with 40,295 votes out of a total of 62,861 valid votes cast. The ADC’s candidate, Dr Moses Paul, finished second with 12,109 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate polled 3,398 votes.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Paul and the Obidient Movement rejected the declared result, alleging voter suppression, result manipulation, intimidation of party supporters, and vote buying across several wards. The statement insisted that the declared figures did not reflect the true will of voters and called for a review of the process.
INEC had not publicly responded to those allegations as of the time of this report.
Political violence and intimidation around electoral events have long been a feature of Nigerian democracy, documented across successive election cycles by local and international observers. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union, the African Union, and domestic civil society organisations have, in various reports over the years, raised concern about the recurring use of thugs and armed groups to suppress opposition political activity, particularly at the local government and state levels.
Edo State has itself been a theatre of significant political tension in recent years. The 2020 governorship election, which returned Governor Godwin Obaseki to office — this time on the PDP platform after his dramatic defection from the APC — was accompanied by widespread reports of violence and intimidation. The state’s political terrain has remained unsettled since, shaped by competing interests within and across party lines.
Tuesday’s events deepen concern that as Nigeria’s opposition landscape continues to reorganise and consolidate around new platforms and coalitions, the response from entrenched political interests may turn increasingly confrontational. The specific targeting — if Tuesday’s attack was indeed deliberate — of a gathering that brought together Peter Obi, a former APC national chairman, and a former NBA president under a relatively new opposition platform would, if proven, mark a troubling escalation in the tactics being deployed against dissenting political voices.