Pedro Obaseki, former managing director of DaarCommunications and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hosamudia Farm, hasnarrated how he was “abducted and assaulted” by suspected thugs in Benin City,Edo State. Pedro, a cousin of Godwin Obaseki, former governor of Edo,was attacked on Sunday while playing football with friends at Uwa PrimarySchool in Benin. A video of the incident, which has since gone viral, showedPedro being beaten, stripped naked, and dragged to the palace of the Oba ofBenin, where he was made to kneel at the gate. Speaking hours after his release, Pedro said the“assailants” invaded the football field and forcibly took him away. He said he repeatedly asked the attackers to identifythemselves but was instead beaten and dragged through major streets in thecity. Pedro described the incident as deeply humiliating andtraumatic, adding that he was made to kneel in public glare. “While playing football with my football mates at UwaPrimary School in Benin, the place was attacked by assailants and I wasphysically abducted,” he said. “I was basically kidnapped. Some of them were holding guns,some of them known thugs, luckily I have their names, and they hauled methrough the streets of Benin under the guise that they’ve been sent to abductme by the palace of the Oba of Benin. “I begged them to show me some form of ID. But I wasdragged, beaten severely, manhandled and dragged through streets up to RingRoad where I was stripped naked and taken into the palace. “I was meant to kneel in full public glare. I’ve never beenso humiliated. I am who I am because of my nativity. I’ve served my culture andnow I don’t know what to say. “I was later released and taken to a police station wherethe commissioner of police came to see me three times before he ordered myrelease from the police station at Oba market road.” Pedro added that from his interaction at the palace, itappeared the attackers were not acting on the instructions of the Oba. He claimed the alleged reason for the attack was a publicstatement he made in London. “From the countenance I met at the palace, it was clear thatthey did not send these people on this message. I am traumatised. I’mdistraught,” he added. “And I heard that my sin was that I went to London and in apublic statement I said, ‘may Edo people live long and prosper,’ but instead Ishould have said that may the Oba live long and prosper. “They said that is a cardinal sin in Benin for me, whohas elevated the culture of the Benin race in my 35 to 40 years as the pioneerof the present Nollywood.”
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