Accord supporters attacked in Oyo, APC demands probe

Hundreds of supporters of the Accord governorship candidate in Oyo State, Oriyomi Hamzat, were attacked by suspected hoodlums during a procession in the Molete area of Ibadan on Wednesday.

The state police command confirmed the attacks, as the All Progressives Congress demanded an investigation.

The supporters were reportedly pelted with stones during the procession organised to welcome Hamzat back to Nigeria from the United Kingdom.

Some party members were injured, and vehicles in the campaign convoy were vandalised, according to eyewitnesses.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, who confirmed this on the telephone, said, “I am aware of the attacks. The loyalists of Hamzat were ambushed during a peaceful procession at Molete end of the ancient city.”

The PUNCH reports that Hamzat, who is a radio presenter and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Agidigbo 88.7 FM, Ibadan, alongside his supporters, were pelted with stones by yet-to-be-identified suspected street urchins in the Molete area.

Multiple eyewitnesses said the immediate intervention of security personnel and Hamzat’s efforts to calm his supporters prevented them from launching retaliatory attacks on the hoodlums.

One of the eyewitnesses, who did not want her name in print, told The PUNCH on Wednesday that the aggrieved supporters insisted that no amount of intimidation from any person or group of persons would stop them from supporting their preferred candidate.

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The APC has, however, called on the relevant security agencies to launch a thorough investigation into the violent attacks against the campaign team of the Accord governorship candidate.

The party, in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, in Ibadan, berated Governor Seyi Makinde over an alleged directive to Park Management System officials to ensure that commercial motorists displayed only the campaign materials of APM candidates on their vehicles, including tricycles and motorcycles.

“Just last week, members of the APC were attacked in three different locations in Ibadan, and all accusing fingers were pointed at the APM gladiators, who have been known to promote the political thuggery arm of the Park Management System since 2019.

“The same set of state-backed violent elements have been linked to the vandalism and destruction of campaign billboards, signboards and posters of opposition candidates in the state in recent times.

“The attack on the Accord campaign train happened in broad daylight, and some residents could identify the culprits. However, we do not want to pre-empt the outcome of an objective and thorough investigation by the police and other security agencies.

“Therefore, we urge members of the public to remain calm and vigilant. Those who work as thugs for undemocratic elements in the political space are members of society, and they must be exposed at all costs.

“The same power mongers who are compelling beleaguered commercial motorists to undertake APM campaign assignments are responsible for sponsoring violent attacks against members of opposition parties in the state.

“The government of the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi took us away from the era of political violence, and attempts by the current administration to revive it will be resisted by the good people of the state,” the APC added.