— Osun APC Tells Police
Irked by the incessant attacks on leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ifewara in the Atakumosa-West-Central Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Osun State by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs, the state chapter of the APC has appealed to police authorities and other security agencies in the state to address the issue with dispatch and bring the perpetrators to book.
The Acting State Chairman of the party, Sooko Taju Lawal, in a statement issued in Osogbo, the Osun State capital yesterday, stated that it was appalling and worrisome that the PDP hoodlums had turned Ifewara and its adjoining towns to theatres of needless attacks and destruction of property of APC members in the affected areas.
Lawal disclosed that reports from members and leaders of the APC indicated rampant attacks by the PDP hoodlums to the extent that no fewer than 90 per cent of the natives and inhabitants of Ifewara and its adjoining towns and villages had fled their abodes and have forcefully relocated to either Ilesa, Ile-Ife or Osogbo.
The Acting State Chairman of the APC hinted that some of the affected individuals have recounted their different unsavoury experiences in the hands of the PDP hoodlums.
“For instance, the Ward Two Chairman of the APC in the local government, Mr Soji Araromi, who is now bedridden in an undisclosed hospital in Ilesa was beaten and attacked by the PDP thugs who broke one of his legs.
“The story of Mr Oluwasegun Oyebanji, alias ‘Kokoro’, a chieftain of the APC also in Ward 11, who was kidnapped alongside his wife, Taiwo, during the day were taken to the forest with his hands tied to his back and beaten with cudgels and cutlass for hours in front of his wife before he was left off the hook by his abductors, was pathetic.
“It was also learnt that Mr Mukaila Akintomide, the Ward 10 chairman of the APC, had his house invaded by the rampaging PDP thugs who beat up his wife to a pulp while he was lucky to have escaped.
“It was also gathered that the shop of Akintomide’s wife was burnt down while the husband had his motorcycle destroyed beyond repairs by the PDP hoodlums who are on the prowl in the area.
“Akintomide, his wife and children are now seeking refuge outside the PDP attack-ravaged zones in the Atakumosa-West-Central LCDA of Osun State.
“It was also learnt that another APC member, Mrs Iyabo Omolara’s shop was destroyed in the melee while Mrs Deborah Ojo’s house and shop and that of her husband were also destroyed.
“Another chieftain of our party in the area, Mr Tajudeen Akintomi a.k.a. ‘Oji’ had his motorcycle openly stolen by the PDP thugs in front of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Bethlehem Parish,” Ifewara, he said.
The Osun State Acting APC Chairman further stated that he was briefed by the members and leaders of the party that constant booming of gunshots by the PDP to scare the remaining members of the APC members out of the town is now the order of the day in the affected places.
Lawal disclosed that it was worrisome that despite the fact that some of the ring leaders of the attacks were arrested sequel to their report by the APC at Ifewara Police Station and Okefia Police Station in Osogbo, the state capital, the suspects who were arrested on Sunday were surprisingly released that same day.
He listed the ringleaders of the PDP thugs to include Busuyi Omidiji, Lekan Olasanmi, Wemimo Adeoye, Femi Small, Wale Dollar, Seun James, Posi Komolafe, Omolola James, among others.
The state acting APC chairman therefore implored the police to instantly revisit the sundry allegations of attacks against the PDP hoodlums whose mission was to stampede the members of his party out of their constituencies before the February 2023 general elections.
He also cautioned the rampaging PDP hoodlums to stop their inhuman activities against the APC members with a warning that they don’t have a monopoly of violence.
