An aide to Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo, Emmanuel Akpan, popularly known as Egogo, has come under scrutiny after a video in which he confronted social commentator Joel Omosere Agho, popularly known as Mr Common Sense, over his criticism of the state government circulated on social media.
In the video, Egogo challenged Mr Common Sense to return to Nigeria and take his allegations against the government to court, while making remarks which the commentator interpreted as threats to his safety and that of his family.
The exchange followed a series of social media posts by Mr Common Sense in which he questioned aspects of the Edo State Government’s activities and made allegations concerning the administration.
Egogo accused the commentator of spreading what he described as propaganda against the government and urged him to provide evidence for his claims rather than use social media to generate controversy.
“Go and do your marching order now and sue me to court immediately. Make I see the power wey you get,” Egogo said in the video.
He also challenged the commentator over his location outside Nigeria, telling him to return to Edo State if he was confident about the claims he was making against the government.
“Come Nigeria come dey do that your video wey you dey do. Make we teach you lesson,” he said.
The remarks have attracted renewed attention because they came from a political aide and amid earlier controversies surrounding Egogo’s public comments about opposition politicians.
In April 2026, the Edo State Government publicly distanced itself from a viral video involving Egogo in which he made threatening remarks about opposition figures, saying the comments were personal and did not represent the position of the government. The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua, said the administration did not condone gangsterism, political intimidation or attempts to suppress opposition voices.
The Edo State Police Command also previously distanced Commissioner of Police Monday Agbonika from remarks made by Egogo in another viral video, saying the comments were his personal views and did not represent the position of the police command or the commissioner.
There have also been reports and allegations circulating about Egogo’s previous conduct, including claims concerning alleged harassment of opposition figures and videos in which political commentators living outside Nigeria were warned against returning home. Such claims require verification from the relevant authorities before they can be treated as established facts.
Mr Common Sense subsequently said he regarded the latest remarks as a threat and publicly documented his concerns about his safety and that of his family in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
“This is me officially registering my concerns about my safety and documenting it thus that everybody that needs to know should know that anything that happens to me or my family, both in the United Kingdom and in Nigeria, Emmanuel Akpan aka Egogo has said with his own mouth that him and the rest of the members of the Edo State government are actively searching for us to hurt us,” he said.
He added that the incident would not deter him from questioning the government or discussing issues of public interest.
“Let me also add that this, by no measure, will deter me from holding the Edo State government accountable. In fact, this will spur me even further to asking the right questions even further,” Mr Common Sense said.
Egogo, however, insisted in the video that he was not afraid of the commentator and said he was prepared to face any legal action arising from their disagreement.
“If you like, carry me go police station o, like carry me go court o. My brother, I will still continue to call you and pick your call to tell you say we dey do this case o. I no dey fear now,” he said.
The aide also maintained that criticism of the government should be supported by evidence, urging Mr Common Sense to establish the facts before making allegations against public officials.
“But the only thing wey I dey tell you as my brother say, they get concrete evidence before you speak,” he said.
He further questioned Mr Common Sense’s decision to make allegations while living abroad and challenged him to return to Edo State.
“You will hear from the office smart,” Egogo said, before continuing his criticism of the commentator’s social media activities.
The latest confrontation comes amid increasingly heated political exchanges on social media, where government officials, political actors and commentators regularly respond directly to one another over governance, security, public spending and political activities.
Mr Common Sense has previously attracted public attention for his social media commentary on political and security matters. Earlier this year, controversy also followed videos involving Egogo and opposition figures, prompting both the Edo State Government and the state police command to clarify that his remarks did not represent their official positions.
The latest incident has nevertheless shifted attention from the substance of the disputed allegations to the language used during the exchange and the concerns raised by Mr Common Sense about his personal safety.
Where government officials or their aides dispute allegations made against an administration, such disagreements can be addressed through factual clarification, requests for corrections, institutional responses or available legal remedies.
Similarly, allegations of threats can be reported to appropriate security authorities for investigation, while any claims of wrongdoing by public officials or political actors should be subjected to evidence and due process.
The earlier decision by the Edo State Government to distance itself from Egogo’s controversial remarks is also relevant to the latest controversy, as it demonstrates that the administration has previously characterised his political statements as personal rather than official government policy.
Neither the circulation of the latest video nor Mr Common Sense’s account, by themselves, establishes that any physical attack against him or his family has occurred.
The immediate public-interest concern is therefore the nature of the language used by a government-linked political figure against a critic, particularly where the recipient says he understands the remarks as a threat to his safety.
West Trybe reports that the latest confrontation between Mr Common Sense and Egogo has renewed scrutiny of the conduct of political aides in responding to government criticism, while also bringing renewed attention to earlier controversies surrounding Egogo’s public remarks and the need for political disagreements to be addressed through evidence, lawful processes and non-violent engagement.
