By Amos Aar
AS political campaigns intensify in the run up to the 2023 general elections, unknown members and factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State have intensified the destruction of each other’s campaign posters and billboards generating tension and fear that this may soon cause serious crisis in the state if urgent measures are not taken by security agencies and political stakeholders to quell the act.
Campaign posters and billboards mounted by the Peoples Democratic (PDP) in some parts of Gboko LGA of the state were reportedly destroyed on Friday, 13th January, 2023 by unknown persons.
Although nobody was arrested in connection with the incident, accusing fingers were pointed at fanatical members of the APC in the state for committing it.
But the APC, in a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Mr Dan Morgan, dated Saturday 14th January, 2023 debunked the accusation, saying the billboards were destroyed by PDP supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the party.
Morgan alleged that a PDP faction loyal to Governor Ortom who declared his support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, started the war when they destroyed billboards bearing pictures of Atiku Abubakar. He said Atiku’s faction now retaliated by destroying the billboards with the images of Ortom and other candidates of the party loyal to the governor.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC), Benue State Chapter received information from reliable sources that factions within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue are at daggers drawn with each other and have gone on a rampage of billboard destruction across the state. The information is that the Ortom faction had mobilized miscreants and thugs to destroy billboards across the state with the picture of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election.
“This order was mindlessly executed by thugs loyal to Governor Ortom and the pro-Atiku Abubakar’s faction quickly responded with reprisal attacks on the billboards and campaign materials of the Ortom faction.
“This unfortunate incident reared its ugly head in Gboko Town where the rivalry has assumed a very worrisome dimension,” the statement reads in part.
Reacting to the latest incident, the Benue State Police Command, in a statement by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of Police (SP) Sewuese Anene, on Saturday said, party executives will be arrested if they fail to produce the perpetrators.
“The CP [Commissioner of Police] also called on political party executives to recall that on 9/12/2022, they had a peace pact that was duly signed and stated therein that peace will be maintained throughout the electoral period. The CP calls on party executives to warn their subjects to desist from such acts.
“Meanwhile, party executives will also be held responsible if they fail to provide their subjects who are perpetuating this barbaric act,” Anene said.
National Record had reported the destruction of billboards of different political parties in Benue State 2022 when campaign activities began, with the destruction of APC billboards in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, a day before PDP launched its campaign on 7th November, 2022 in Makurdi.
The campaign posters and billboards of the APC gubernatorial candidate, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, were also destroyed in Gboko in August, 2022. The campaign billboard of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were equally destroyed in November, 2022.
