Two people have been killed in Idanre community, Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State, amid the escalating violence rocking the State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The yet to be identified victims were attacked by hoodlums during the ward congress of the APC in the local government.
During a stakeholders’ meeting of the party on Tuesday, some hoodlums suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, had invaded the party secretariat in Akure, the state capital, where the chairman of the party in the state, Ade Adetimehin, was beaten and injured along with other party chieftains.
The injured chieftains of the party, who are currently hospitalised, accused Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of sponsoring the hoodlums to disrupt the process, an allegation the governor as dismissed as false.
During the incident in Idanre, the younger brother of the chairman of the party in the state, Raphael Adetimehin, who is currently in coma, was also macheted by the hoodlums along with five others.
According to sources, the community was thrown into tension when the hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapon, invaded the venue of the ward congress, shooting sporadically in the air.
During the melee, vehicles were destroyed and set ablaze. Many members of the party, who were waiting for the exercise to commence, sustained varying degrees of injuries while trying to scamper for safety.
One of the sources, who craved for anonymity, said, “The drivers union people were the ones who came to the town and started shooting and attacking targeted members of the party.
“They (hoodlums) were walking freely on the road with guns and dangerous weapons but the security were just looking and did not challenge or make any attempt to arrest them.”
Confirming the attack on his brother, the chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, said, “My younger brother, Raphael and I look alike, so they thought I was the one and in the process fired gunshots on his car. But the bullets didn’t hit him. They dragged him out of the car which they set ablaze and macheted him so bad. They actually thought that he’s dead. He’s currently in coma. We are praying.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, who visited the community, stated that
investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding the attack and to apprehend those responsible.
The Ondo State Police Command, in a statement issued by the spokesperson, Abayomi Jimoh, stated that “to forestall any further breakdown of law and order, the CP has ordered the immediate deployment of additional tactical teams to secure the area and its environs in order to protect lives and property”.
Two killed as political thugs disrupt Ondo APC congress
