ABIODUN NEJO writes that the attack on a campaign train in Ekiti State despite efforts to ensure peaceful June 18 governorship poll is perhaps confirmation that violence is part of campaigns and elections in Ekiti State
Whenever elections draw near in Ekiti State, the appeal in all quarters has been the need for peace among all parties, candidates and supporters. There were even occasions when parties and their candidates signed peace accords, but violence would not but rear its heads.
An instance of election violence in the recent time in the state was during the March 20, 2021 Ekiti East Constituency I bye-election meant to fill a vacant seat in the state House of Assembly whereby three persons were shot dead in the election day violence, while many others sustained injuries.
Also, during the July 31, 2021 All Progressives Congress ward congress, a person was killed in the ensuing violence in parts of the state.
Consequently, in the processes leading to the 2022 Ekiti governorship election, it is expected in many quarters that the message of peace has been accepted by all as the consultations which led to the January 2022 primaries were largely peaceful across the different parties in the state.
Even the protests that greeted the conduct of the governorship primaries of the APC and Peoples Democratic Party which led to defections in some cases were violence-free.
But all ended recently when the campaign convoy of the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Segun Oni, was attacked by suspected political thugs at Efon Alaaye in the Efon Local Government Area of the state.
Hell was let loose in the hilly community that Wednesday evening as the armed political thugs unleashed horror on the convoy and the campaign venue where the SDP members and Oni’s supporters gathered for the consultation which the party candidate had already undertaken in nine local government areas.
While the SDP accused the APC of responsibile for the attack, the APC laid it at the feet of SDP and the PDP, but the PDP, which charged the APC to defend itself of the allegation against it, warned the APC and SDP not to drag it into their dirty fights.
Media Director, Segun Oni Campaign Organisation, Jackson Adebayo, said, “Some (SDP) supporters were badly injured and vehicles in the convoy were damaged by thugs before the arrival of a detachment of police which overpowered the thugs.
“An officer of the Nigeria Civil Defense and Security Corps was not spared by the APC thugs as they attempted to snatch his gun. He was wounded but refused to surrender his gun,” Adebayo added.
The Director General, SOCO, Ambassador Dare Bejide, said several armed political thugs sponsored by the ruling APC attacked the convoy of the SDP governorship candidate on his way to hold a Town Hall meeting in Efon Local Government and caused serious physiological and bodily injuries to members of the entourage.
Bejide, in a statement titled, “Report of attack on Oni’s entourage by the APC thugs”, said, “It is instructive to note that the campaign organisation formally wrote and obtained approval from the police in respect of the meeting and requested to be protected and yet, some hoodlums went ahead to carry out unprovoked attacks.
“It is important to emphasize that nobody or any political party has a monopoly of violence. Therefore the campaign organisation will not hesitate to defend its principal and members if and when such attack is repeated”.
Following the attack, Oni petitioned the Inspector-general of Police, Director-General of Department of State Service and the Commandant-general of the NSCDC seeking a probe of the attack by suspected political thugs on his campaign train.
But the APC, which denied responsibility for the violence, laid the attack on the doorsteps on the PDP and the SDP, urging members of the two opposition parties “to desist from acts of gangsterism and bloodletting as they commence their campaign towards the June 18 election in Ekiti State”.
The APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, in a statement titled, “Don’t return Ekiti to bloodletting era, t APC cautions SDP, PDP”, bemoaned what he called “unwarranted bloodletting” at Efon, wondering why such mayhem should be unleashed on the innocent people the two opposition parties were aspiring to govern.
Dipe, who described the development as “unfortunate, unprovoked and avoidable”, saying no one’s ambition should be laced with such bloodletting, said, “Such act of intimidation is highly condemned by us and should be discouraged in totality by all and sundry.
“The government of the day will not allow anyone, no matter the stature, to return the state to the era of one day one trouble in the name of campaigning for election. Ekiti people are naturally peaceful and would not like to be taken back to those evil days when limbs and lives of innocent souls were being cut off with impunity.
“Anyone trying to remind our people of what happened in 2009 during the rerun election, when Chief Segun Oni and the PDP on the platform he contested unleashed mayhem on the innocent people cutting limbs and lives will certainly meet his Waterloo.
“The Efon incident is quite unfortunate and uncalled for. Our people know the APC very well and trust what the ruling party is capable of doing, more so that the party has not even flagged off its own campaign.
“The APC candidate is from the Aramoko axis (precisely Ikogosi) and Oni’s campaign had stopped to campaign there without any harassment from the people. Oni and his SDP campaigned in Oye where Governor Kayode Fayemi hails from without being embarrassed.
“Their (SDP) campaign train moved freely and peacefully in Ikole and Omuo, two of the strongholds of the APC, and no one thought of attacking their convoy. They were also in Ilejemeje and Moba without being debarred.
“The questions on the lips of every well-meaning Ekiti son and daughter at this point should be: Why Efon? Who hails from Efon and was what actually transpired in Efon an attack or a reprisal?” While it is not our duty to apportion blames to anyone, APC disclaims, disowns and denies any responsibility or involvement whatsoever in the dastardly act”.
The PDP spokesperson described APC as “a fraudulent party that thrives on lies and propaganda,” saying it was “embarrassing and shocking that APC, which fraudulently claims to be populated by ‘Omoluabis’ (honorable people) could engage in such a blatant lie not minding that Ekiti State is an enlightened community.
“Every citizen of Ekiti State knows the difference between the peace loving PDP and the APC which has penchant for unleashing violence on helpless citizens of Ekiti. The people know which party is allergic to free, fair and peaceful democratic practices.
“The APC has deliberately resorted to this act of intimidation because the SDP is a very weak party which cannot win any election, but is capable of playing a spoiler. They deliberately orchestrated this attack in Efon Alaaye, the hometown of our candidate, Otunba Kolawole, to create the false impression that the attack was carried out by the PDP supporters,” he said.
Adeyanju, who derided the APC spokesman for creating very weak and childish alibi that assaulted the sensibilities of any intelligent human being, said, “ The APC has no conscience for reminding Ekiti people of the party’s atrocities during the the 2009 rerun election.
Since the attack took place in the hometown of the PDP governorship candidate, it has, however, raised fears in some quarters, that there might be reprisals on the campaign trains of other candidates in the places of the flagbearers of other parties.
However, the Ekiti Council of Elders, while condemning violence in any form before, during and after the June 18 governorship election, urged parties to rein in their members and supporters to ensure peace reigned in the state and as well emergence of the people’s choice in the election.
The council’s Secretary General, Elder Niyi Ajibulu, said, “To us, the attack on Wednesday was saddening, unexpected, embarrassing and condemnable. We thought that by now, within the context of Ekiti, we have overcome that type of problem.
“We expect each of the parties now to sit down and articulate whatever it has in store for Ekiti people for the electorate to know that you are in the best position and with the wherewithal to do whatever you claim to be planning for the people. That is what we are expecting from the parties, not fighting and maiming.”
The State Commandant, NSCDC, Mr John Fayemi, who frowned on the violence, describing it as unfortunate, assured that the corps and other security agencies “are ready to tackle it headlong to prevent such occurrence as the campaigns take off full bloom. We are going to tackle it frontally and prevent such.”
On his part, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, who said the police were able to contain the Wednesday situation, said investigations were ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book and ensure there was no repeat in the course of the campaigns and election.
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