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There comes a point when silence ceases to be neutrality and becomes complicity. Delta State has reached that point.

The recurring spectre of political violence linked to members and supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is no longer a series of isolated disturbances. It is becoming a dangerous political culture, one that threatens public peace, undermines democratic competition and sends an ominous message that brute force, rather than superior ideas, is gradually becoming the preferred language of politics. That should alarm every democrat.

No civilized society should normalize images of political meetings ending in broken bottles, flying chairs, clubs, bloodied faces and allegations of organised attacks. Those disgraceful scenes belong to the darkest chapters of political barbarism, not to a state that prides itself as one of Nigeria’s most peaceful and economically strategic.

The tragedy is not merely that violence occurred. The greater tragedy is that those associated with these ugly episodes are not faceless hoodlums operating outside the political system. They are individuals linked to the very party entrusted with governing Delta State. That should trouble Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. It should trouble every decent member of the APC. And it should trouble every citizen who believes democracy is still worth defending.

The warning signs have been flashing for some time. The recent complaint by the governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Deacon Chris Iyovwaye, over the attempted disruption of his planned meeting in Aghalokpe should never have been dismissed as just another opposition grievance. His allegation that suspected political thugs sought to stop a lawful political gathering deserved immediate, visible and transparent action by both the government and security agencies. Instead, what followed was an unsettling silence.

Even more disturbing was the public perception created by viral videos showing policemen apparently watching events unfold without decisive intervention. Whether that perception reflects every detail of what happened is secondary to the damage it has inflicted on public confidence. Justice must not only be done. It must be seen to be done.

Then came the disturbing violence following the APC stakeholders’ meeting at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun. The meeting reportedly ended peacefully. Yet what followed painted a disgraceful picture of political intolerance and indiscipline.

Conflicting narratives have emerged over who attacked whom. Those competing claims deserve careful and impartial investigation. But one fact requires no investigation. Violence occurred. Dangerous objects became weapons. Public officials and party loyalists were injured. The images travelled far beyond Delta State. Once again, Delta’s political reputation suffered another needless stain.

But perhaps nothing captures the moral bankruptcy of the episode more than the allegation that a serving commissioner of the Delta State Government was handcuffed after a local government chairman allegedly directed police officers to restrain him, claiming to be the “chief security officer” of the council. If that allegation is established after investigation, it would rank among the most embarrassing political spectacles witnessed in recent years.

What greater evidence of institutional breakdown can there be than elected and appointed officials allegedly reducing public authority to an instrument of personal or factional combat? It is difficult to imagine a more humiliating advertisement of political decay. A commissioner. A council chairman. Party loyalists. Police officers. Thugs. Broken bottles. Public assaults. Is this what governance in Delta State has been reduced to?

What makes the entire episode particularly shameful is that these are not rival political parties confronting one another. These are members of the same ruling party. The same political family. The same government. The same administration.

If those occupying the highest levels of political authority cannot conduct themselves with restraint, what example are they setting for thousands of excitable supporters waiting below? Leadership is not exercised from campaign posters. Leadership is demonstrated through conduct. Political thuggery is never accidental. It survives because influential politicians tolerate it. It flourishes because powerful sponsors protect it. It expands because previous offenders escape accountability. Every thug who attacks a political opponent believes somebody important will rescue him from justice. That poisonous culture must end.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori deserves recognition for directing security agencies to investigate the PTI violence. But investigations alone are no longer enough. The Governor owes Deltans a stronger moral statement. He must speak directly, not merely through government press releases, to assure every opposition political party that Delta State belongs equally to all citizens, irrespective of political affiliation.

He must make it unmistakably clear that no individual, no political officeholder and no party supporter possesses a monopoly over public space or political freedom. Democracy cannot survive where opposition politicians begin to wonder whether they require official permission, or armed protection, to hold meetings.

The Delta State Police Command must also rise to this historic responsibility. Its constitutional duty is neither to the APC nor to any opposition party. Its loyalty is to the Constitution.

The police must reassure Deltans that every lawful political meeting will receive equal protection; that every allegation of political violence will receive equal investigation; and that every offender, regardless of status or influence, will face equal justice. Selective policing is democracy’s silent assassin.

The APC itself must also confront an uncomfortable truth. It cannot continue celebrating electoral victories while ignoring the growing perception that violence is becoming intertwined with its political operations in the state. No responsible political party should require the services of thugs to market its achievements.

If a government has performed well, its projects should be its campaign coordinators. Its roads should speak. Its schools should speak. Its hospitals should speak. Its economic policies should speak. Its development record should speak. Thugs should never become its loudest political spokespersons.

This newspaper is equally compelled to caution all political parties against the shameful degeneration of political communication into an endless exchange of lies, propaganda, abuse and character assassination. Politics should be an intellectual contest, not a criminal enterprise.

Campaigns should revolve around ideas, not intimidation. Manifestoes, not machetes. Policies, not punches. Arguments, not assaults. The people of Delta deserve mature politics. They deserve leaders capable of debating visions for economic growth, education, healthcare, infrastructure, youth employment and security, not politicians who mobilise young people as political cannon fodder.

History has shown repeatedly that politicians who recruit thugs rarely control them forever. The same violence deployed against today’s opponent eventually turns against yesterday’s sponsor. Political monsters have a habit of consuming their creators. That is why civilized democracies reject political thuggery without qualification.

As another election season approaches, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has an opportunity, and indeed an obligation, to draw a firm line. Not tomorrow. Now.

He must publicly declare that every political party will enjoy equal freedom to campaign throughout Delta State. He must insist that every APC leader, commissioner, council chairman, appointee, member and supporter conducts politics with discipline, restraint and respect for the law. He must ensure that anyone who sponsors, finances or participates in political violence faces consequences, no matter how highly placed. Nothing less will restore public confidence.

Delta State stands today before two competing futures. One leads to politics dominated by persuasion, tolerance and democratic maturity. The other leads to politics controlled by thugs, fear and violence. The difference between those two futures will not be determined by speeches. It will be determined by courage.

For whenever politicians arm thugs instead of arguments, democracy begins to bleed. And when democracy bleeds long enough, every citizen, winner and loser alike, becomes a victim.