LP chairperson, social media influencer clash at Abuja airport

Julius Abure, a factional national chairperson of the Labour Party, on Saturday clashed with a social media influencer, Precious Oruche, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

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Ms Oruche is popularly known as Mama Pee.

In a statement on Saturday, the LP national spokesperson, Obiora Ifoh, said Mr Abure was “quietly” standing in line to board a Max Air flight to Benin when Ms Oruche suddenly confronted him.

Mr Ifoh said Ms Oruche continued the confrontation onboard, ignoring flight attendants’ pleas to calm down, and even carried it on after the flight landed in Benin, Edo State.

“The attacker, Madam Pee, who is also a known content creator, continued the attack throughout the duration of the flight, defying all attempts by the Max Air flight attendants to calm her. The assault, which attracted a large number of onlookers, continued on disembarkation at the Benin Airport while she kept recording the scene,” he said.

Mr Ifoh said security operatives at the airport intervened to whisk Mr Abure to safety, while the woman was handed over to the police.

“What shocked the party more was a video later released by the woman, where she allegedly boasted of her connections.”

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“In one of her films released, the lady claimed that she has contacts with the highest police hierarchy, boasted that nothing will happen to her, and vowed that she will not stop attacking Abure or any member of the Labour Party executive because, according to her, ‘you have killed Labour Party and you are the reason why Obi is no longer in the Labour Party,’” the statement read.

The LP spokesperson called the incident “a suicidal aggression” against Mr Abure and insisted it was politically motivated.

“We sincerely believe that the lady-agent was on an assignment to accomplish the desires of her paymasters. Assault and cyber-bullying are severe crimes under our laws, and we think that the police must fish out her sponsors and cohorts, and bring them to book,” Mr Ifoh said.

Mr Ifoh urged the party members not to retaliate but to remain calm while awaiting the outcome of police investigations.

‘Abure’s thugs injured me’ — influencer

In a video posted on X, Ms Oruche alleged that Mr Abure sent thugs to “attack and beat her” on arrival at the Benin City Airport in Edo State.

According to her, the incident happened after she told Mr Abure that he had succeeded in destroying the LP.

Ms Oruche claimed that Mr Abure and his brother, John Abure, laid siege to her before they arrived at the Benin Airport, sending thugs to attack and beat her up and destroy her iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Some X users said the police in Edo had detained Ms Oruche. However, this newspaper has yet to verify this.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Edo, Moses Yamu, told our reporter that he was unaware of the incident.

LP crisis

The LP has been battling an intense leadership crisis, which has split the party into two factions.

While Mr Abure leads one faction, Peter Obi and Mr Otti belong to another faction of the LP.

The LP’s National Executive Committee had sacked the Abure-led executive in September last year and appointed Nenadi Usman, a former minister of finance and ex-senator representing Kaduna South, to lead a 29-member caretaker committee and facilitate the election of a new party leadership within 90 days.

However, weeks later, the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognised Mr Abure as the LP national chairperson.

The Supreme Court, on 4 April, set aside the judgement of the lower court.

A five-member Supreme Court panel unanimously held that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to have affirmed Mr Abure as chairperson of the LP since the case concerned the party’s leadership.

READ ALSO: Labour Partys NEC backs Julius Abure, vows sanction for Peter Obi, Otti

It held that the issue of leadership was an internal party affair and that courts lacked jurisdiction over it.

The court upheld the appeal filed against the judgement by Mrs Usman.

The Supreme Court held that Ms Usman’s appeal was meritorious, as it also dismissed the cross-appeal filed by the Mr Abure-led faction of the LP for lacking merit.

But the Abure-led faction of the LP argued the Supreme Court did not sack Mr Abure and other executives of the party.