Don Pedro Obaseki Forgives Assailants Months After Attack

Don Pedro Obaseki has pardoned individuals who assaulted him in December 2025, bringing a dramatic turn to an incident that drew widespread attention in Benin, Benin City.

Obaseki made this known on Tuesday when the assailants visited his residence to seek forgiveness following the attack, which occurred on December 28, 2025, at Uwa Primary School.

He had reportedly gone there to play football before being attacked by a group allegedly led by Osaze Adun, also known as Kapuepue.

The incident, which saw him publicly humiliated and taken toward the palace of the Oba of Benin, left him deeply shaken.

Speaking during the meeting, Obaseki said he had decided to forgive after appeals from family members and associates, despite the trauma he experienced.

He said:

“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.”

He also revealed a familial link with one of the attackers, noting:

“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.”

Reflecting on the assault, Obaseki admitted the experience left him angry and traumatised but said forgiveness was necessary for peace and unity.

He said:

“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, I 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.”

Obaseki added that he felt relieved that those who once viewed him as an enemy had now openly admitted otherwise and sought reconciliation.

While granting forgiveness, he urged the assailants to commit to non-violence, warning that any repeat of such actions would not be tolerated.

He also disclosed plans to establish a non-governmental organisation aimed at addressing assault and intimidation against citizens.

Meanwhile, Osaze Adun apologised for his role in the attack, expressing regret and pledging that such an incident would not happen again.