The Labour Party has issued a strongly worded statement addressing the much-publicized clash between Ms. Precious Oruche, popularly known as Mama Pee, and the sacked former chairman of the party, Julius Abure. The incident, which occurred on September 27 at Abuja Airport and later escalated in Benin, has sparked widespread debate across the country.
In its response, the party not only defended Ms. Oruche but also announced a landmark civil society initiative, “Project Yellow Page,” designed to provide real-time protection for activists, journalists, and citizens in distress.
The Labour Party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Prince Tony Akeni, in a press statement released on Friday, urged Nigerians to review the very first video evidence of the airport altercation before forming opinions. He explained that the sequence of events that morning has been misrepresented in some quarters. According to the party, the confrontation began in the Max Air check-in queue when Ms. Oruche, upon sighting Abure, asked him directly, “Are you not Julius Abure? What are you doing with the Labour Party after you destroyed the party?” Abure, clearly unsettled, responded, “How? How can?”
The situation took a sharper turn when Abure’s younger brother, identified as John Abure, standing by his side, allegedly escalated matters by lashing out at Ms. Oruche with the words, “Are you mad?” to which she responded in kind. The Labour Party argued that, at this juncture, there was no criminal offense committed by either party, citing Nigerian legal precedent that classifies such verbal exchanges as mere “vulgar abuse.”
For emphasis, the party referenced landmark judgments such as Bakare v. Ishola and Ibeanu v. Uba, in which courts ruled that insults hurled in moments of anger, such as calling someone a thief or ex-convict, are not defamatory but are to be understood as emotional outbursts. This interpretation, according to the Labour Party, aligns with Professor Farooq Kperogi’s commentary during last year’s heated verbal exchange between activist Deji Adeyanju and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Professor Kperogi noted that such insults in Nigerian culture are generally perceived as “expressions of anger” and, in legal terms, are treated in the same way as “rhetorical hyperbole” under U.S. media law.
The Labour Party went further to situate the Abuja Airport clash in a broader context of what it called an ongoing campaign of blackmail against its leaders. The party accused Abayomi Arabambi, whom it described as “a see-through double agent serving the ruling party in partnership with Abure,” of persistently fabricating damaging allegations against Obi and other Labour Party leaders since 2023. According to the statement, these allegations have included life-threatening charges such as coup plotting and treason. The party lamented that critics and opponents of Ms. Oruche appeared unbothered by Arabambi’s persistent character assassination of Obi and other figures, but were quick to condemn Oruche for confronting Abure.
Despite the severity of the accusations, the statement highlighted Obi’s refusal to engage Arabambi or Abure, attributing his silence to a deep understanding of Nigerian legal precedents and his “large-hearted tolerance.”
The Labour Party insisted that the actual criminality in the Oruche–Abure saga unfolded not during the initial confrontation at Abuja Airport but aboard the Max Air flight and after the plane landed in Benin. The party alleged that Julius and John Abure made good on threats of physical harm by mobilizing a mob of over fifteen young men against Ms. Oruche, a lone woman. This, the party stressed, was the true violation of Nigerian law.
In the aftermath, the Labour Party expressed gratitude to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika, for his professional handling of the matter. The party credited him with conducting a thorough personal investigation that prevented what it described as the “unjust detention” of Ms. Oruche.
Beyond defending Oruche, the Labour Party elevated her as a symbol of resilience and courage in Nigeria’s democratic struggle. “The Labour Party salutes our daughter in the struggle for a better Nigeria, the irrepressible Ms. Precious Oruche, known also as Mama Pee. If only 5% of Nigerian youths have the outstanding courage against bad governance as Mama Pee, Peter Akah, King Dele Farotimi, Femi Falana (SAN) and other shining examples like them, Nigeria would have been free many years ago,” the statement read.
The party, however, made clear that the incident was not just about one woman’s courage or victimization but a sign of challenges to come as Nigeria marches toward the 2027 elections. The Labour Party called on its supporters, known as “Obidients,” as well as coalition partners across the country, to brace themselves for a difficult road ahead. It warned that the attack on Mama Pee should be seen as “a specimen of things to come.”
To strengthen its support system for citizens at risk, the Labour Party unveiled a new civil society initiative called the Nigeria Civil Rights Yellow Page (NCS-YP). The project, described as a “human rights Yellow Page,” aims to create a comprehensive directory of active human rights, civil rights, environmental rights, women’s rights, children’s advocacy, and internally displaced persons’ rights organizations and activists across the country. The directory, to be compiled state by state and local government by local government, will serve as a rapid response tool to mobilize assistance for activists, journalists, and ordinary Nigerians in danger, both within Nigeria and abroad.
The Labour Party explained that this directory would enable networks to quickly identify and contact the right individuals and organizations to provide rescue operations, legal defense, or other forms of urgent support in times of crisis. The initiative, it said, is particularly crucial as the 2027 elections approach. “As we journey towards the 2027 general elections, Nigerians are going to need this directory more than the citizens of any other country in the world. To be forewarned is to be forearmed,” the statement concluded.
The unfolding saga between Ms. Oruche and Julius Abure may have started as a heated airport altercation, but the Labour Party has used the episode to highlight not only the legal nuances of “vulgar abuse” in Nigerian law but also the need for greater solidarity, protection, and preparedness in the country’s volatile political climate. With “Project Yellow Page,” the party is signaling a pivot toward collective defense mechanisms as it prepares for what it sees as an intensifying struggle for Nigeria’s democratic future.
