There was chaos in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday, as a former governor of Oyo State and national leader of the Accord Party, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, narrowly escaped being lynched by thugs suspected to be from the state chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
This was during a rally at the Olomi area of Ibadan, close to the NURTW headquarters where Ladoja was receiving defectors from the ACN and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) into the Accord Party in Oluyole Local Government Area of the state.
Chaos ensued when thugs descended on the rally, where they beat up participants and vandalised tents, chairs, sound gadgets, Accord Party branded bus and another vehicle marked OYO EGB 138 AA and LAGOS CK 570 KTU.
A car belonging to Mr Laide Oyelude of Daily Newswatch was also vandalised, as the hoodlums hurled stones at everyone in sight, including security operatives, who were deployed to keep peace in the area.
The rally was disrupted as people ran helter-skelter in the heat of the pandemonium.
Ladoja had to make a detour while heading home as the hoodlums barricaded the road he was to take, with security agencies firing shots and tear gas to disperse them.
Addressing journalists and supporters before he left the venue, Ladoja said “He (Governor Abiola Ajimobi) is the chief security officer of the state. Is this what they want to do? Can he prevent us from doing what we want to do? Is this not worse than the politics of Adedibu’s era? After Tokyo, it was Eleweomo. Have they been able to suppress us?
“Accord Party has come to stay in the state. I think people have freedom of association if they decided to leave a ruling party and decide to pitch their tents with us. We’re a peace-loving party and one that is working for the glory of this state. We’re not thugs or hoodlums, nobody can deter us or discourage people from associating with us.
“We thought they are peace-loving people but with this act, we know the type of people they are. Their target is to discourage me from coming here today, but I promise you that when it comes to Accord Party, I will never be discouraged and the battle has just started, though not the way they thought they can do it.”
The former governor, however, appealed to his supporters not to be violent and asked to be law-abiding.
A former Secretary to the State Government, Mr Ayodele Adigun, who recently escaped assassination, also accused the ACN of intolerance of opposition parties.
“Before the incident, a similar violence was reportedly unleashed on members of Accord Party at Lagelu area of the state, where some people sustained machete cuts
“They have brought a lot of panic to the city. The thugs, to our surprise, were led by three Operation Burst teams. There is a great culture of intolerance in Oyo State now,” he said.
However, state publicity secretary of the ACN, Mr Kolawole Dauda, denied that ACN members were responsible for the attack, adding that the party would never behave in such a violent manner.
“It’s not possible. We don’t harbour violence and criminals in ACN, those people must be their members, I mean within their party.
“We’re for peace. Since the inception of this administration in Oyo State, we’ve been advocating peace and that’s why the state has been so peaceful, even the government has successfully changed the orientation of members of the NURTW, so our party members can’t stoop so low,” he said.
Ladoja had just returned from London, United Kingdom where he met with his successor, former deputy governor and erstwhile political foe, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, where they were said to have discussed an alliance for the 2015 elections.