Senators, Reps Escape Death As Ogun APC Crisis Gets Bloody

* hoodlums shoot Police orderly
* Osoba denies involvement

The Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District, Gbenga Obadara on Thursday escaped death by the whiskers as his police orderly, Sunday Akinbode, a Seargent, was shot by suspected thugs in Wasimi, Ewekoro Local Government area of Ogun State.

No fewer than nine other APC members were also shot by the suspected hoodlums and several others injured in the melee that ensued.

Also caught in the fray of bullets fired by the suspected thugs was Senator Akin Odunsi representing Ogun West and members of the House of Representatives, including Olumide Osoba (Obafemi/Owode), Adekunle Adeyemi (Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency) and Remi Bakare, a former governorship Aspirant.

It would be recalled that two factions within the ‘progressives’ had engaged themselves in war of words until lately when thugs alleged to be loyal to state government ran haywire.

They targeted journalists at the party Secretariat last week Thursday, wounding and damaging cameras of the Galaxy TV and MITV in the process.

During the Wasimi reign of terror, Journalists, including Sheriff Balogun (Thisday), Daud Olatunji (Vanguard), Dimeji Kayode Adedeji (Premium Times) and Segun Olatunji (Punch) also escaped death by the whiskers. The Secretary of the Ogun State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Soji Amosu, took refuge in Senator Obadara’s SUV while the gun warfare lasted.

The suspected hoodlums who wielded guns, charms and other dangerous weapons had at about 1:38pm stormed the Wasimi venue of a senatorial meeting convened by Obadara to sensitize the people of the area about the forthcoming membership registration of the APC.

The suspected hoodlums immediately started firing at the APC supporters said to be loyal to the former governor Olusegun Osoba and in the melee Obadara’s police orderly was hit as he attempted to shield his principal.

The police orderly and others shot were rushed to the Mercy Group Clinics, Panseke, Abeokuta and other nearby health centres in Wasimi for first aid attention.
Senator Obadara alleged that Governor Amosun was responsible for the attack on him and his supporters.
A member of the House of Representatives, Adeyemi Kunle, who represents Ifo/Ewekoro federal constituency also caught in the attack, accused the police in the state of complicity.

Senator Adegbenga Kaka who was at the hospital to visit the victims called on the Federal Government and the police high command to investigate the attack on the APC.

In a swift reaction, Governor Amosun has denied the allegation.

Amosun, according to a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Olusola Balogun, condemned all acts of violence against any citizen of Ogun.

He, however, regretted the attempt to link him or any member of his government to such dastardly acts in order to score political points.

“The news of the alleged attack was shocking to me. All the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as chairmen of our local councils were in Lagos to celebrate Baba Bisi Akande. It is even more curious that some chieftains of our party would choose a time to honour our revered leader for another meeting. The motive is certainly questionable,” the governor said.

Amosun added that the party leader in the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, was at the event with him and wondered what the intention of the National Assembly members that conveyed the said political meeting was.

“The alleged thuggery has all the trappings of a stage-managed event, with the aim of attempting to take over the machinery of our great party through subterfuge. But we will not be taken in by such blackmail,” Amosun declared.

Senator Amosun maintained that the unity of Ogun APC remained inviolable and everything within the ambit of the law would be done to consolidate the gains of the past and take Ogun State to enviable heights.

He commiserated with the innocent victims of the alleged violence, including the journalists and called on the police to bring the perpetrators to book and sustain the atmosphere of peace in the state.





-DailyIndependent




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