Pedro Obaseki: Why I decided to Take Those Who Humiliated Me to Court

Felix Omoh-Asun in Benin City

Dr. Pedro Obaseki has offered reasons why he decided to seek justice through the courts following what he described as his brutal public abduction, violent assault, and extra-judicial humiliation in Benin City on December 28, 2025.

Obaseki said the drive for justice was not for revenge or political motives, but the need for accountability, deterrence, and protection of human dignity.

Obaseki, cousin to former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, was seized by a horde of youths, who accused him of insulting the Oba of Benin, thereafter stripped him to his pants, and marched him through the streets to the Oba’s Palace on Ring Road, Benin City.

Obaseki, former Managing Director of DAAR Communications and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hosamudia Farm, narrating how he was “abducted and assaulted” by suspected thugs, said the “assailants” invaded the football field and forcibly took him away to the palace.

In a strongly worded press statement in Benin City, Obaseki stated that his action was not only to restore his personal dignity and protect his family, but also to send a clear message that no individual or group had the right to abduct, brutalise or publicly dehumanise any citizen outside the law.

He said the decision was taken after extensive consultation with his wife and children, members of the Obaseki family and clan, senior legal advisers, and respected elders.

Obaseki described the incident as a grave violation of his fundamental rights and said the acts amounted to terrorism-related violence under Nigerian law, citing the use of armed force, explicit threats to life, public intimidation, and deliberate creation of fear beyond the immediate victim.

He disclosed that during the incident, his abductors claimed they were acting on the instructions of the Oba of Benin or the Oba’s Palace.

However, Obaseki confirmed that the claim had been formally and expressly refuted by the Benin Traditional Council, which issued a widely publicised letter categorically denying any involvement, authorisation or prior knowledge of the acts.

Obaseki said he welcomed and accepted the clarification as the official position of the palace and noted it as part of the public record.

He emphasised that the legal actions now under-way were directed strictly at the individual perpetrators and any persons who might be found, through due process, to have aided, facilitated or enabled the offences, whether through direct action, impersonation of authority, abuse of office or omission.