The remorseful youths kneeling before Don Pedro Obaseki pleading for forgiveness
Seasoned movie producer, lawyer and former managing director of Daar Communications Ltd, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki said on Tuesday that he had decided to allow the sleeping dog lie in the case of humiliating treatment meted out to him by some hoodlums about four months ago following their apology.
Obaseki however extracted an undertaking from them that never again would they assault anyone in the state, warning that should that happen again, he would never forgive them.
The 60-year-old renowned journalist suggested that it was by the grace of God that he survived the ordeal as he fell sick because of the way he was beaten, dragged and made to walk almost two and a half to three kilometres after playing 90 minutes of football.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that on the fateful day of December 28, 2026, while playing football with friends at the Uwa Primary School, Benin City, Don Pedro Obaseki, cousin to the immediate past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, was abducted by a group of youths led by one Osaze Adun also known as Kapuepue, claiming to act on behalf of the Oba of Benin, dragged through major streets, beaten, and publicly stripped before being taken to the palace where he was forced to kneel as bystanders watched the horrifying dehumanisation of the prominent Edo son.
The dastardly and humiliating incident sparked widespread outrage, raising questions about human rights, calls for accountability in Edo State, and demand for justice for the hapless victim.
Several of Obaseki’s learned colleagues were so livid that they volunteered to represent him pro bono in his pursuit of justice in the courts.
The Obaseki dynasty had also expressed their resentment on the attack on their illustrious son.
Receiving his attackers at his Benin residence when they came to beg for forgiveness, the cultural icon said though he was very angry, bitter and highly traumatised by the incident, but having listened to appeals from various quarters, he had no choice but to let it slide.
According to Obaseki, “Everybody is aware of the events of the 28th of December and it’s almost four months now. Myself and my children were very pained but there is a proverb in Benin that only the leopard’s cob can lick the leopard’s underside.
“I’m an Edo man, I’m an Obaseki and I wanted to use this as an affirmation that we are not the enemies of the Edo people.
“So, that is the only validation I need. The only thing I wanted to say, which I will say maybe in a larger forum, is, I want to thank a few very close friends. I want to thank my family because we didn’t fall from the sky.
“Ironically, the young one behind me, (Kapuepue) his mother is also from my family.
“The Obaseki clan, we have spoken to my brothers because they’ve been on this for a while. We realised that we need to move forward.
“I would have seen myself as the sacrificial ram meant to put everybody together. It is to repair, not to spoil. So, I’m angry, I was very angry and bitter.
“I was traumatised, I was sick because when you are beating a 60-year-old man on the streets and making him walk almost two and a half, three kilometres, that’s after playing 90 minutes of football. It is the grace of God.
“But I’m coming from the farm now when they called me and said they were on their way. So, I just wanted to do that as a respect to my own father, and my uncles and my parents because to err is human, but to forgive is divine. I am not a polarising figure in this state. I’m the only one who can walk into an APC party and not bother and enter any PDP party and not bother.
“Me, I’m the chieftain of the ADC, I don’t bother. I always sacrifice my party-ness for my Edo-ness. You get my point? So, Edo is paramount to me”.
He said he felt relief that those who once declared him an enemy of the Palace have come to plead for forgiveness and also state with their own mouths that I am not the enemy of the kingdom.
Pedro, who said he had decided to let the sleeping dog lie, asked them to put an undertaking that never again would they assault anyone in the state, and should there be a repeat, he will never forgive them.
He said he was going to set up a non-governmental organisation to champion the cause against assault and intimidation on any citizen of the state.
On this part, Osaze Adun said he was sorry for his action and never would such happen again.
He said they came to realise that Pedro Obaseki had been promoting the cause of the Benin nation and never an enemy of the Palace.
It is expected that with Don Pedro Obaseki’s decision to forgive his attackers, the on-going lawsuit against them would be discontinued.
