Suspected thugs on Tuesday invaded a pre-congress stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State at the secretariat in Akure, beating the state party Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, a commissioner and injuring several other party members.
The violent incident occurred less than 24 hours before the nationwide ward congresses scheduled to be conducted across 203 wards in the state.
Eyewitnesses, who pleaded not to be identified, said the armed thugs claimed they were from Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and shouted that they were against the planned ward congresses.
“We don’t want congress in Ondo State. The governor is in charge. The governor is the leader of the state, and the governor is in charge.
“Nobody can query the authority of the governor, and anybody who wants to talk about congress in Ondo State will be assassinated. If you talk about congress in Ondo State, you will be assassinated,” an eyewitness quoted one of the leaders of the thugs.
It was gathered that several party leaders, including the state APC Chairman, Ade Adetimehin; a commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr Otito Atikase, and former Commissioner for Sports, Mr Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, were among those attacked by the thugs. Some of those injured were rushed to hospitals for treatment.
Confirming the attack, the state APC chairman, Adetimehin alleged that the thugs were sponsored to disrupt the meeting.
According to him, “Thirty minutes later, the place was invaded by thugs, with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons. They beat all leaders and members, except those who are for them.
“They beat me and dragged me on the floor; they took away my two phones, money, and wristwatch.”
But the Commissioner for Information, Mr Idowu Ajanaku, denied Governor Aiyedatiwa’s involvement. He described the allegation as “unfounded, false and misleading.”
Ajanaku, in a statement, said, “The governor was neither aware of nor connected to the said meeting and could not have sanctioned any act of thuggery. His leadership reflects a strong aversion to violence and political intimidation in any form.”
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Abayomi Jimoh, however confirmed the incident, saying the situation had been brought under control.
The PPRO said, “The police command received a distress call, and we immediately swung into action, deploying operatives to the APC state secretariat.
“Efforts of these operatives restored calmness to the area.”
He added that the Command’s tactical teams had been deployed while investigations had commenced.
