The All Progressives Congress in Oyo state has accused Governor Seyi Makinde of being behind the rising cases of violent attacks against members of the opposition in the state as well as their outdoor campaign facilities using a syndicate allegedly made up of miscreants recruited into the service of the Park Management System.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the Publicity Secretary of APC in Oyo State, Olawale Sadare.
The party said this allegation followed fresh cases of destruction of campaign billboards and posters belonging to candidates of the APC and other opposition parties.
The party said most of the attacks on such facilities appear coordinated with APC being the worst victims.
The APC spokesman lamented what he described as the “seeming lackadaisical attitude of the police and other security agencies towards arresting the ugly trend of coordinated attacks against opposition figures and their properties as perpetrated by some known agents of Makinde and Oyo PDP.
“It is with a deep sense of regret that we are raising the issue of politically motivated again at this time when parties and their candidates intensify efforts to kick-start campaigns ahead of the next general election. Those behind the dastardly acts in parts of the state are well known and we have called the attention of security agencies to their nefarious activities on several occasions with proof.
“Just last Saturday at about 5 pm, a team of experts employed by our party were at Toll Gate area on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where they mounted a campaign billboard bearing the pictures of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Teslim Folarin, who are the presidential and governorship candidates of the APC respectively but shortly after (at about 9 pm), a commercial bus brought some red beret-wearing miscreants and they destroyed the billboard. They operated for about 30 minutes without being challenged.
“Before now, the Oyo Central Senatorial candidate of our party, Dr. Yunus Akintunde, has had virtually all his campaign billboards destroyed in various locations across Oluyole, Ona-Ara, Egbeda, and Akinyele local government areas while those of Sarafadeen Alli, Olaide Akinremi, Saheed Akinade-Fijabi, Dapo Lam-Adesina, Aderemi Oseni, and many others have not been spared in all parts of Ibadanland.
“Another sad development has to do with the increased cases of violent attacks against members of our party at Aliwo, Oke-Adu, Agodi spare parts market, Iwo Road and Iyana Oja Bodija as the violence merchants latched on the hasty address given by the state commissioner of police in the wake of the attacks carried out against participants at the October 4, 2022 Solidarity Walk for Tinubu/Shettima in Ibadan.
“The spate and manner of these violent attacks clearly indicate that those behind them enjoy the backing of Governor Makinde and Oyo PDP. In fact, there are enough facts on the ground to hold members of the controversial Mukaila Lamidi-led Park Management System responsible. There are also indications that sponsors and participants in the dastardly acts are not ready to give peace a chance since their goal is to railroad Gov. Makinde into the office for an underserved second term.”
Although the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of PMS, Mukaila, could not be reached on the telephone to comment, the Public Relations Officer of PMS, Emiola Jelili, had earlier in his reaction to a similar allegation debunked it.
He asked opposition parties to look for their attackers within their parties, saying the PMS chair knew nothing about such attacks.
He said, “We are also aware that the oppositions in the state are just looking for ways to tarnish the image of Auxiliary.
“We have told all opposition parties in the state to look inwards into their party problems and to stop accusing Auxiliary wrongfully.”
