Dr. Pedro Agbonifo Obaseki hereby issues this statement following his brutal public abduction, violent assault, stripping, dehumanization, and unlawful detention in Benin City on Sunday, 28 December, 2025.
After extensive and comprehensive consultations with his wife and children, members of the Obaseki family and clan, senior legal advisers, and respected elders, Dr. Obaseki has taken the difficult but necessary decision to seek justice through lawful and constitutional means.
This decision was reached after deep personal reflection and family deliberation. It is motivated not by malice, vendetta, or political considerations, but by the imperative of accountability, deterrence, and the protection of human dignity. Silence, in the face of such grave violations, would amount to complicity and would expose other innocent, law-abiding citizens to similar abuses.
On the date in question, Dr. Obaseki was forcibly abducted in public by armed individuals, in a brazen attack designed to instil fear on other citizens, he was violently assaulted, stripped naked, threatened with death, and paraded through major public roads in broad daylight in Benin City, Edo State. The perpetrators recorded and livestreamed the ordeal, deliberately humiliating him and creating public fear. He was subsequently detained for several hours despite his injuries, without any disclosed allegation or lawful charge.
Dr. Obaseki states unequivocally that these acts constitute terrorism-related violence under Nigerian law, involving armed force, explicit threats to life, public intimidation, and the deliberate creation of fear beyond the immediate victim. During the incident, the abductors claimed they were acting on the instructions of the Oba of Benin or the Oba’s Palace. This claim has been expressly and formally refuted. The Benin Traditional Council, acting on behalf of the Oba of Benin, issued a widely publicised formal letter categorically denying any involvement, authorisation, or prior knowledge of the criminal acts. Dr. Obaseki welcomes and accepts this clarification as the official position and notes it as part of the public record.
Accordingly, the legal processes now underway are directed at the individual perpetrators and any persons found, through due process, to have aided, facilitated, or enabled the offences, whether by action, omission, impersonation of authority, or abuse of office. Dr. Obaseki has retained Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, one of Nigeria’s foremost human-rights lawyers, as lead counsel. Under his guidance, appropriate civil and criminal proceedings are being pursued concurrently, strictly within the bounds of Nigerian and international law and with full respect for the presumption of innocence.
Given the gravity of the violations and their wider public-interest implications, Dr. Obaseki has also formally notified and is engaging international human-rights bodies and partners. This is to ensure independent oversight, transparency, and proper monitoring of the investigative and judicial processes, in line with Nigeria’s constitutional obligations and international commitments.
This action is taken not only to restore the dignity of an innocent citizen and protect his family, but also to deter future occurrences and to affirm that no individual or group may abduct, brutalise, or publicly dehumanise another outside the law.
Out of respect for ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings, no further factual or evidentiary commentary will be made by Dr. Obaseki at this time.
Signed,
Dr. Pedro Obaseki
Through Counsel:
Mr. Femi Falana, SAN
