Hon. Abdulrazak Momoh, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator of the Edo House of Assembly who was beaten to pulp by suspected thugs, has been blamed for unnecessarily putting himself at risk.

In a widely followed Independent Television (ITV) Benin Pidgin English programme ‘Good morning on ITV’, moderator Thomas Sadoh and his co-anchors Emmanuel Akpololor and Victor Eriyo all wondered why the Etsako West 1 constituency representative dared to go into the legislative quarters when he knew that the place was a bastion of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers and their security men who had barred members of the PDP from gaining access.

“Why should he dare to go to the legislative quarters at night to try to confront his enemies without having adequate security cover?” Sadoh asked.

Hon. Momoh is currently receiving treatment in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) after he was reportedly beaten severely and thrown over the fence he had scaled to gain entry into the legislative quarters after he failed to heed warnings by the security men guarding the place not to force his way in.

One caller to the phone-in programme was not sympathetic to Momoh at all, insinuating that he was minded toward violence and that the only reason why he dared to go and confront his attackers at night was because he was hoping he could get his way by any means possible.

News Express recalls that, during the Edo local government elections last year, Momoh (then of the APC) was paraded by the Edo Police Command for being in possession of a pump action gun at a voting centre in Edo North.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Edo state House of Assembly, Hon. Uyi Igbe, and the Majority Leader Phillip Shaibu (both of APC) have been questioned by the Edo State Police Command over the attack on Hon. Momoh.

•Photo shows Edo lawmaker Hon. Momoh (who was attacked recently and is in serious condition in UBTH) being paraded last year with a pump action gun he allegedly brought to a voting center in Edo North duting last year's LG elections in the state.

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