Suspected thugs on Tuesday invaded the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress in Akure, Ondo State, violently disrupting a stakeholders’ meeting held ahead of the party’s ward congress.
The attackers reportedly stormed the venue armed with sticks, machetes, cutlasses and other crude weapons, forcing party members to flee and bringing the meeting to an abrupt end. Several officials were said to have sustained injuries during the chaos.
Ondo State APC Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, alleged that he was severely beaten and dragged on the floor during the attack.
“They came in force this morning and ordered everybody to leave. They claimed the governor owns the party,” Adetimehin said. “We told them we were not challenging anybody’s authority, but they attacked us. They dragged me to the floor. They took away my two phones, money and my wristwatch.”
He added that his personal driver was also assaulted and that some injured members had been taken to hospital for treatment.
The meeting, according to Adetimehin, was convened to prepare for the party’s ward congress scheduled to take place across the state’s 203 wards.
An eyewitness, Yetunde Adeyanju, claimed the attackers openly declared their allegiance to the governor.
“They were shouting that they were from Aiyedatiwa,” she said. “They said, ‘We don’t want congress in Ondo State. The governor is in charge. Nobody can query the authority of the governor. Anybody who talks about congress will be assassinated.’”
Another witness confirmed that among those beaten were Mr Otito Atikase, a commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, and former Commissioner for Sports, Mr Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye.
Adetimehin further alleged that the thugs were sponsored to disrupt the meeting.
“Thirty minutes after we started, the place was invaded by thugs with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons. They beat all leaders and members except those who are for them,” he said.
However, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr Idowu Ajanaku, dismissed claims linking the governor to the attack.
“The governor was neither aware of nor connected to the said meeting and could not have sanctioned any act of thuggery,” Ajanaku said. “His leadership reflects a strong aversion to violence and political intimidation in any form.”
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Abayomi Jimoh, said officers responded promptly to a distress call.
“The police command received a distress call and immediately deployed operatives to the APC state secretariat,” Jimoh stated. “Our efforts restored calm to the area. Tactical teams have been deployed, and investigations are ongoing.”
The police have yet to announce any arrests in connection with the attack.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
