A pro-good governance and accountability group, Benue Vanguard for Good Governance has warned the governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia and officials of the state government to stop attacking the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese.
Recall that last week, Agbese removed the official portrait of Alia from his office.
He claimed that Alia had disrespected the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rule of law, saying, that “he is not fit to be called a Leader”.
Speaking in a statement on Monday, the National Coordinator of the group, Apeh Oche described Agbese as a hero of democracy who should be celebrated for speaking truth to power.
The group warned that any plot to silence Agbese would be thwarted by the youths of Benue.
They also alleged that, aside sponsoring social media attacks on Hon. Agbese with pseudo accounts, “Gov. Alia, through one of his top aides, has released a huge sum of money to various groups and fictitious personalities masquerading under groups.”
Speaking further, the group said, “Whilst we understand that it is within their democratic right to write any rubbish and be published, we will not tolerate any harm to Agbese.
“Agbese is a great asset to Benue and the role he is playing in National Assembly is not for his Constituency or Benue State alone, he is speaking for the entire House of Representatives and by extension, Nigerians.
“He has the right to form his opinion about anyone in Government, especially, issues affecting his political party, his State and the country at large. Like many other Nigerians, Agbese will not hesitate to speak out when anything is wrong.
“We know some people have a history of violence and may be tempted to plot great harm against the Lawmaker. We are following the trend and we invite the various security agencies to provide security for the Lawmaker, his family members and staff and also keep tabs on the activities of the state government.”
