The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the attack on a senator, Matthew Urhoghide, describing it as completely inexcusable.
The party in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodinyan, accused the ruling APC of masterminding the attack.
Recall that Mr Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South) was attacked at the Benin airport when he arrived Edo State on Saturday.
The lawmaker had during the week called for the impeachment of President Buhari for withdrawing $496 million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without the National Assembly’s consent.
It was for that reason he was attacked.
“We are miffed that the APC has degenerated to the level of misdirecting its youth and unleashing them to attack and mete out violence on law-abiding citizens including a senator of the Federal Republic,” Mr Ologbodiyan said.
“We are equally irked that the attack happened in the full glare of high-ranking police officers in the state, who did nothing to protect the lawmaker but adopted an aloofness that emboldened the APC youths.”
The Edo police commissioner confirmed that the police’ intervention helped mitigate the violence.
“We note that such brazen attack is recipe for wide-scale violence. But for the restraint exhibited by the PDP youths and supporters of Senator Urhoghide, there would have been a breakdown of law and order at the airport and which might even extend to other parts of the state.
“The PDP restates our stand in commending Senator Urhoghide for his courage in standing for the Nigerian people to move the motion for the Senate to investigate President Muhammadu Buhari for alleged violations of our constitution.
“The attack on Senator Urhoghide therefore shows the intolerance and deployment of unpatriotic acts by agents of the APC, including the invasion of the Senate and forceful removal of the mace, to intimidate the parliament and destroy our democracy,” the PDP said.