The Chairman of Ocean Marine Solutions Limited (OMSL), Capt. Hosa Wells Okunbo (retd), has been accused of commissioning cultists in Edo State to commence attacks on innocent people across the state to create an atmosphere of fear in the state.

Raising an alarm in a statement issued on Monday, Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “The Edo State Government has received security reports about the outcome of a nocturnal meeting between Capt. Hosa Okunbo and some cultists in Benin City, held on Sunday night.”

He alleged that “one of the conclusions reached at the meeting is that the cultists should commence violent attacks on innocent people across the state to create tension and a sense of insecurity in the state.”

Osagie disclosed that “the state government has communicated its position to the relevant security agencies in the state to thwart Okunbo’s devilish plot.”

He noted: “Okunbo is notorious for sponsoring violent attacks against people who he perceives as threats to his business interests. Recall that the Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority, Hadiza Usman Balla, in December 2019 told Nigerians of such attacks on her by hoodlums sponsored by Okunbo at the premises of the National Assembly.”

Citing media reports, the Governor’s aide said: “The NPA boss reported the attempted attack on her person by hoodlums sponsored by Okunbo’s OMSL, a company she was having a lingering battle with over an anchorage area on the water off Lagos.

“The NPA boss petitioned the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, alleging that she was physically attacked by hoodlums at the premises of the National Assembly in Abuja, after she appeared at the Joint Senate Committee which was probing the NPA/OMSL faceoff over the Secured Anchorage Area (SAA).”

“It is the same thing that is playing out in Edo State now. Okunbo has paid cultists to cause mayhem in the state. However, we have confidence in God and the various organs of government to check his excesses,” Osagie added.