Inspector Onu Ako was slain on Thursday at a homecoming event for Edo State’s reinstated Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.
The police officer was assigned to Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the state’s next governorship election on September 21, 2024.
Chidi Nwabuzor, a police spokeswoman in the state, said the incident occurred at 11 a.m. along Airport Road, just after the entourage left Benin Airport.
He said that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, has issued a harsh warning against political thuggery, stating that anyone found guilty will face the consequences.
He vowed to bring the policeman’s killers to justice.
The APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have exchanged words over the officer’s killing.
Shaibu, who failed to secure the PDP’s governorship ticket, has declared support for the APC’s Okpebholo against the PDP’s Asue Ighodalo.
Shaibu, currently in conflict with Governor Godwin Obaseki, returned to Edo State on Thursday following his reinstatement as deputy governor by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, months after being impeached by the state assembly.
In addition to reinstating Shaibu, the court ordered that his salaries and allowances be paid from April, when he was impeached.
The court also issued a perpetual injunction preventing Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing his duties.
Justice Omotosho further instructed Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to restore Shaibu’s security details.