Few days after top actress, Ufoma Ejenabor, was reportedly brutalized in Lagos by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji,VIDEO UPDATE another fast-rising comedian, Akpobome Ogude, alias Oguns Baba, was allegedly brutalized by security aides of the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, around Abavo in Delta State about 2:45pm on Sunday, November 28.
Narrating his ordeal, the comedian, who was in the car with a friend, said, “We were on our way to Asaba from a traditional wedding in Warri.
“I was accompanied by my friend, a local government councillor in Delta State. While we were driving on the express lane, we passed by three Kia cars with Edo State number plates.
“Obviously because they were not on siren, we really didn’t know who the occupants of the cars were, so we overtook them.
“After we had passed them, we came across some official cars in a convoy, so we slowed down because we didn’t want to overtake them. Initially, we had thought it was the Speaker of the Delta State’s House of Assembly.
“But to our surprise, the convoy in our front stopped and the three cars we had passed earlier caught up with us and stopped, thereby leaving us in their middle. Almost immediately, some policemen came down from the cars and ordered us to come down and identify ourselves.
“I told them I was a comedian and my friend also identified himself. But rather than check our identity cards, they flung them and started calling us names. They ransacked our bags and, in the process, my bottle of perfume was smashed.
“Later, we were asked to meet their boss who, to our amazement, turned out to be the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Obudu. As soon as he sighted us, he called us all sorts of names. He then ordered that we be taken away and that was when the orderlies started whipping us with horse whips.
“All efforts to show our true identities proved abortive. In the end, my friend’s Black Berry phone and iPhone got lost while my laptop was damaged.”
However, in his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Kelly Odaro, said there was no truth in Ogude’s claim.
According to him, the comedian and his friends had broken into the convoy in a rather harsh manner. Consequently, the convoy had to stop and interrogate them for security reasons.
In a telephone conversation, he said, “Their car was ransacked for security reasons; and in the process, an ID card belonging to a local government councillor was found. So, the deputy governor directed that they should be allowed to go.
“These men were not brutalized at all. After they had identified themselves, the Chief Security Officer to the deputy governor, an SSS officer, asked the councillor if his action was honourable.
“I can give you some phone numbers of other people that can confirm the story. He even suggested that they take them to the nearest police station and hand them over to the DPO, a move that was vehemently resisted by the deputy governor. These men were not beaten. The deputy governor is not one that will do such a thing. That is just the fact of the story.”
