Veteran filmmaker, author and former Managing Director of DAAR Communications and Chief Executive Officer of Hosamudia Farm, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, has narrated why he was kidnapped, striped naked and humilated by suspected thugs in Benin City, Edo State.
Obaseki, a cousin of former Edo State governor Godwin Obaseki, said he was humiliated because of an incident linked to a public statement he made in London, where he reportedly said, “May Edo people live long and prosper,” instead of wishing long life to the Oba.
“They said that was a cardinal sin,” Obaseki said. “I am traumatised and distraught. I have served and promoted Benin culture for decades, yet I was subjected to the worst humiliation of my life.”
He added that the incident occurred on Sunday while he was playing football with friends at Uwa Primary School. According to him, armed men invaded the field, forcefully seized him, and dragged him through major streets in the city.
A viral video of the incident shows Obaseki being beaten, stripped naked, and marched to the palace of the Oba of Benin, where he was made to kneel publicly at the palace gate.
Speaking hours after his release, Obaseki described the experience as humiliating and traumatic. He said the attackers claimed they were acting on instructions from the palace but refused to identify themselves despite his repeated demands.
“I was basically kidnapped,” he said. “Some of them were holding guns, others were known thugs. I begged them to show some form of identification, but instead I was beaten, manhandled, stripped naked, and dragged through the streets to Ring Road before being taken to the palace.”
Obaseki said he was later taken to a police station, where the Edo State Commissioner of Police reportedly visited him three times before ordering his release.
… Courtesy National Waves
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