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Speaker 1: Eve to the judgment day slated by the Edo State

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election petitioned tribunals sitting in Abuja over the September twenty

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twenty four governorship election outcome. The Edo State Governor Monday

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ok Pepholo, who may know his fate today, took to

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his personal verified ex social media account, specifically at about

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ten p m. On Tuesday to narrate the multiple battles

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is currently facing in office in recent days, remembering the

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teachings of one of the well known political godfathers in

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Edo’s state and Nigeria politics, Late Chief Tony Anim, with

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emphasis on how his political enemies wanted him to fail

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over the sixteen travelers killed last Thursday at a Romi

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town in the Essen Northeast local government area of the

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state by irate mob over allegations that the victims were

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kidnappers terrorizing the community. Detailed accounts of the long thread

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of posts as published by Governor Monday ok Pepolo on

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his personal ex social media account on Tuesday, reads verbatim below,

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the battle I couldn’t afford to lose. There are moments

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in life when you were faced with multiple battles, each

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screaming for your attention, each pulling you in a different direction.

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It is in such times that wisdom, not emotions, must lead.

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Many years ago, I stood with Chief Tony Annone in

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the car park of his home in Aromi, watching him

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navigate a storm of political battles. What surprised me was

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how calm he remained, almost too calm, except for one

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particular issue that seemed to occupy his mind. Curious, I

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asked him why he started apachemizer as he called me.

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In life, when you were faced with several battles at

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the same time and you do not have the resources

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to fight them all, you focus on the one that

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carries the greatest consequence if you lose. I never forgot

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those words. On March twenty eighth, when the tragic incident

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in Aromi happened, that weight of leadership every leader knows

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became heavier. I was bombed, guarded from all sides with

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diverse concerns. Your excellency, you must not be seen standing

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against your people. You can’t blame them. They’ve suffered enough

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at the hands of criminals. You are the governor of

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Edo State. Why are you going to beg northerners. You

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must bring the perpetrators to book. Justice must be served.

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On Friday night, while receiving a briefing from one of

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the security agents, he said, gravely, your excellency, we should

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expect possible reprisals in the North and even within Edo Central.

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At that moment, I knew which battle I could not

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afford to lose. I imagined families in the North watching the

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gruesome video, seeing their sons, fathers, brothers hacked down in

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a foreign land far from home. The shock, the anger,

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the calls for revenge. I imagine the innocent traders, students

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and workers from Edo traveling through or living in Northern

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states becoming sudden targets of retaliation for something they knew

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nothing about. I imagined chaos, reprisal killings in the North,

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counter reactions in the South, travelers afraid to journey through

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parts of Nigeria, and our nation once again thrown into

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unnecessary bloodshed. No, that was the battle I could not lose.

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So at four a m. On Saturday, I left Abouja

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by road for a ROMI I needed to look my

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people in the eyes, not just read reports on a desk.

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I needed to hear their frustrations, their anger, and their fears.

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I ensured the bodies of the slain were recovered and

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transported back to the grieving families. I ensured the injured

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survivors received treatment and were safely reunited with their loved ones.

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I charged security agencies to go after the perpetrators. I

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engaged our Northern brothers in Eno. I assured them that

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the actions of a few did not define our people.

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I believe a true leader does not let emotions blind

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him from doing what is right. Edo people are known

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for their hospitality, not hatred. That point had to be established.

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I knew the matter could not end in a ROMI.

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I flew back to Abouja to brief the President and

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met with security chiefs to ensure national coordination. I engaged

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critical Northern stakeholders, including Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Gibrin,

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to see clasting peace. But I needed to go further.

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I had to face the grieving families directly. So I

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traveled to Carno State to meet Governor Abakaber Yusuf, a

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man whose understanding and generosity in this situation I deeply appreciate. Together,

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we drove over two hours to bank a local government

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where the families of the deceased were mourning. I will

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never forget that moment, the pain in their eyes, the

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way mothers held pictures of their sons, the weight of

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sorrow in their voices as they spoke. I had no

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words to arrase the grief, but I had the responsibility

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to show that Edo State stands against what happened. I

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reminded them that many Northerners have lived in Edo for decades,

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just as many Edo Indigens have lived in Carno and

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across the North. We are all Nigerians. Hate cannot solve this.

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I offered compensation to the grieving families, not because money

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can replace a life, but because responsibility must be taken.

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I also met with the Edo and Southern Communities Incarno

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to strengthen peace and assure them of their safety. Now

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let me be clear, justice will be served. The fourteen

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individuals responsible will face the full weight of the law.

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That is non negotiable. Anyone who violates the law must

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face the consequences. But my first duty was to stop

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more blood from being spilled. To those who secretly hoped

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for mass killings and chaos just so they could score

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cheap political points, you have been put to shame, and

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I I know you now feel regret for your intentions.

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To those who feel disappointed, I understand. I am coming

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back home. I will sit with my people as I

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always do. We will talk, we will heal, and together

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we will find our own solutions for our own problems.

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Here is the lesson I leave you with. When life

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throws multiple battles at you, always fight the one that

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has the greatest consequence if you lose. That is leadership,

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that is wisdom. That is why I am here. We

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have reported that the Edo State Governor, monday O Pepolo,

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on Monday visited Carno State to sympathize with the people

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of the state over the last Thursday killing of travelers

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at a Romi town in the Essen Northeast local government

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area of Edo State. Whence some youths in the Edo

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community that have been experiencing incessant killings and abductions of

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the villages by suspected herders stopped to moving Dangote cement

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truck and found the travelers to be in possession of

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nineteen locally fabricated guns, which some members of the public

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claimed the travelers were hunters traveling from Port harcourt in

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Rivers State to Carno with the guns alleged to be licensed.

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This the Nigeria police boss, the Inspector General of Police

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IGP car Yode Eggbetoken, apparently dismiss the allegations that the

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Dane guns were licensed and probably described the victims to

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be in possession of illegal firearms and thus warned and

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directed anyone in possession of illegal firearms to surrender such

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to the nearest police station and directed the Deputy Inspector

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General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation

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Department FCID dig SID Kabubaka to take over the case.

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With reports indicating that the fourteen suspects arrested in connection

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to the mobbing and burning to death of the travelers,

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said to be sixteen in numbers, may have been transferred

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to Abuja for police investigation. Britain, ukrainis in a mortgage

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alway