Ekiti 2014: APC, LP clash, thugs shoot two

Two persons were reportedly shot by political hoodlums as violence erupted between the supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party in Ilupeju Ekiti on Thursday.


Our correspondent learnt that some persons sustained injuries during the clash which paralysed activities in the town for some time.

Ahmed Salami, who is the media aide of the LP governorship candidate, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, claimed that political thugs hired by the APC shot two members of the party in Ilupeju.

Salami said members of Bamidele’s campaign team and his supporters took refuge at the palace of the Apeju of Ilupeju-Ekiti, Oba Emanuel Oniyelu, during the attack.

He said the alleged APC thugs wore vests with the Bamidele emblem during the attack on the LP members.

The spokesperson for the LP in the state, Mrs Bola Olatunde-Bruce, said that two members of the party were shot, allegedly by APC supporters, and asked the Inspector-General of Police to come to the rescue.

She said in a text to The PUNCH, “This is the ninth time APC thugs will attack us. We are crying out to the IG to call Governor Kayode Fayemi and his boys to order before anarchy sets in.

“APC is violence personified and this must stop. We abhor the continued attack on our campaign train by APC thugs. Enough is enough; this orgy of violence must stop forthwith.”

But the spokesperson of the Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Mr. Dimeji Daniels, said that members of the LP unleashed terror on APC members in Ilupeju.

He said that a prominent member of the APC in the town, whom he identified as Dare was attacked with machete by LP thugs and that the victim was taken away by his attackers.

Daniels said, “It is very unfortunate that Bamidele’s thugs were the ones who attacked our people at Ilupeju. They did the same thing in Ipole Iloro and they were the ones who first rushed to the press.

“The claim of the Labour Party is a lie. They have entered into alliance with the PDP to attack members of the APC. They entered into Ilupeju and teamed up with the PDP and attacked our people.

“They know that they cannot win so they have resorted into violence to scare people away but they can’t succeed. We are calling on the law enforcement agencies to ensure that Dare who was injured and taken away by the LP is brought back alive.”

The Police Relations Officer in the state, Victor Babayemi, confirmed that there was violence in Ilupeju but nobody was shot.

The PPRO said, “Nobody was shot at Ilupeju. However, three persons were injured by some political thugs but not as a result of gunshot.

“The claim that two persons were shot is not correct. One suspected thug was arrested and he is now at the state Criminal Investigation Department.”

Babayemi appealed to politicians to refrain from violence, saying anybody caught fomenting trouble would be dealt with according to the law.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Dr. Tope Aluko, has said that members of the party will roast any APC member caught rigging during the June 21 governorship election in the state.

Aluko said this in a statement he made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, on Thursday to react to the comment made by the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Aluko said that the APC would not go to court to challenge any poll result because judges who were aiding the party had been sacked.