Drama played out on Thursday at the Edo State House of Assembly when dozens of heavily armed security operatives stormed the complex, leading to the eventual renovation of the complex.
As early as 8 am, police officers comprising operatives attached to the Police Mobile Force and Operation Thunderstorm occupied the complex in Benin City, the state capital.
They were later joined by personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), preventing entry into the Assembly premises.
Channels Television gathered that the move was purportedly to forestall an alleged plan to attack the facility by some unnamed persons.
A short while after the police took over the complex, some supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo thronged the scene, chanting solidarity songs in support of the current leadership of the Assembly.
Amid the chanting by the supporters, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who is seeking re-election on the PDP platform, also arrived at the complex alongside the Speaker of the House, Frank Okiye, and went straight into the Assembly premises without resistance from the security operatives.
In his reaction, the governor condemned what he described as the desperation of his major opponent and his supporters for allegedly planning to take over the assembly complex and occupy it in order to disrupt the democratic process and rule of law.
He, however, affirmed his determination to ensure that the rule of law and one-man-one-vote was accomplished in the state.
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, with his deputy, Philip Shaibu, and the State House of Assembly Speaker, Frank Okiye, and others at the Assembly complex in Benin City on August 6, 2020.
Okiye, on his part, alleged that the police action was instigated from Abuja while the governor vowed to ensure the lawmakers and the people of the state were protected.
After addressing the supporters, Governor Obaseki left the scene while the police once again ordered the party supporters outside the complex, where they continued their solidarity dance.
Thereafter, tipper trucks drove to the complex where they off-loaded sand and gravel in front of the Assembly in what the government explained was part of ongoing reconstruction work at the complex.
Some unknown persons climbed the roof of the complex where they removed the mace.
