The office of Edo State’s Deputy Governor, located on Osadebe Avenue in Benin City, the state capital, has been cordoned off by heavily armed police officers, who were seen stationed there on Sunday.
This office is the same one Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu was assigned to following his relocation outside the Government House during a tense standoff with Governor Godwin Obaseki.
By Sunday, the entrance to the office had been securely locked, with a police truck, equipped with a mounted machine gun, and three officers positioned at the main gate.
Reports indicated that as of Friday, staff members of the deputy governor’s office were instructed to report to work at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy.
Furthermore, the official vehicles attached to the office, including the Press Crew bus, have been transferred to the office of the Head of Service, located within the Government House complex on Osadebe Avenue.
A staff member from the Deputy Governor’s office confirmed the developments on Sunday, stating, “You know we are civil servants. On Thursday, we were told to resume in JOOPSA and that was where we also resumed on Friday and we would also do that tomorrow (Monday).”
The relocation and subsequent sealing of the deputy governor’s office mark a significant escalation in the ongoing rift between Governor Obaseki and his deputy, which has been a source of political tension in the state.
