A pre-congress stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State turned violent on Tuesday as suspected thugs invaded the party secretariat in Akureleaving many injured and the state chairman and a commissioner beaten.
The incident occurred less than 24 hours before the nationwide ward congress scheduled to be held across 203 wards in the state.
An eyewitnessYetunde Adeyanjusaid the attackersarmed with dangerous weaponsshouted that they were from Aiyedatiwa and claimed“We don’t want congress in Ondo State. The governor is in charge. The governor is the leader of the stateand the governor is in charge.
“Nobody can query the authority of the governorand anybody who wants to talk about congress in Ondo State will be assassinated. If you talk about congress in Ondo Stateyou will be assassinated.”
Another eyewitness confirmed that several party leadersincluding the state chairmanMr Ade Adetimehina commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development CommissionMr Otito Atikaseand former Commissioner for SportsMr Saka Yusuf-Ogunleyewere beaten. Those injured were rushed to hospitals for treatment.
Adetimehin corroborated the attackalleging that the thugs were sponsored to disrupt the meeting.
“Thirty minutes laterthe place was invaded by thugswith cutlasses and other dangerous weapons. They beat all leaders and membersexcept those who are for them.
“They beat me and dragged me on the floor; they took away my two phonesmoneyand wristwatch,” he said.
The Commissioner for InformationMr Idowu Ajanakuhoweverdenied any involvement of the governordescribing the allegation as “unfoundedfalse and misleading.”
In a statementhe 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.”
Confirming the incidentthe state Police Public Relations OfficerMr Abayomi Jimohsaid the situation had been brought under control.
“The police command received a distress calland we immediately swung into actiondeploying operatives to the APC state secretariat.
“Efforts of these operatives restored calmness to the area,” he saidadding that tactical teams had been deployed and investigations were ongoing.
