PDP, APC decry rising wave of violence in Kwara
RULING All Progressives Party in Kwara State and the Peoples’ Democratic Party at the weekend pointed accusing fingers at each other over the rising wave of violence in the state.
Minister and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC) Olanrewaju Sulaiman, Sunday alleged intimidation and attack on supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Sulaiman made the condemnation while reacting to last Friday’s killing of Alfa Saadudeen of Kuntu area, believed to be a PDP supporter in Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state.
Describing the killing as strange and alien to Ilorin culture, Sulaiman in a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Abdulrahman Abdulrauf, urged the security agencies to probe the killing with a view to bringing the perpetrators of the act to book.
Suspected party thugs destroyed eight All Progressive Congress (APC) branded vehicles in an unprovoked attack in Share, headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Area and hometown of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.
According to eye-witness accounts, the convoy of PDP flag bearer in the forthcoming gubernatorial elections, Senator Simon Ajibola, was returning from a rally in Pategi when the suspected PDP thugs went haywire on sighting the eight APC branded cars on Onipako Road, near First Bank, Share.
Mr. Toyin Lawal, who witnessed the incident, said residents and passersby took to their heels on sighting the thugs who were wielding machetes, axes and other dangerous weapons.
Corroborating the story, another eye witness, James Olaleye, claimed that the PDP thugs were incensed by the cold reception received by the candidate at a rally in Pategi, an APC strong-hold, and decided to wreck vengeance on APC supporters in Share on their way back.
The Share incident follows a similar attack on the APC campaign train in Isapa, Ajibola’s hometown, in Ekiti Local Government Area, by suspected thugs while Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed campaigned in the town. Two APC supporters sustained gunshot wounds in that incident which Ahmed condemned as ‘unacceptable, anti-democracy and lawless.’
Kwara state Chapter of the APC alleged that political thugs suspected to be members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were perpetrating the attacks on its supporters.
State Chairman of APC, Ishola Balogun-Fulani expressed this concern at a press conference in Ilorin that the violent attacks on the party’s members have continued with impunity because “police has handled rampaging PDP thugs with kid-gloves signals” in the state, urging the state police command to review their stance.
Sulaiman said: “While we sympathise with the family of the deceased, we want to reiterate that politics is not a do-or-die and God gives power to whom He so pleases. Some people can’t afford to take laws into their hands. The security agencies must not fold their arms in the face of this growing intimidation and attack on our supporters.
“To avert any possible breakdown of law and order, the security agencies should live up to its billings. They should probe deep into the killing of Saadudeen with a view to bringing the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book. This show of shame is certainly not in our culture in Ilorin. Ours is a culture of live and let’s other live.”
“In as much as we preach and embrace peace among our supporters, those who take delight in carrying out heinous acts such as the killing of innocent Citizen Saadu as it happened last Friday, must also be called to order and brought to justice.
“The pulling down of our posters by suspected APC hirelings who are doing their masters’ bidding cannot stop the wind of change blowing across the state, ” the statement alleged.
Balogun Fulani said the APC just like other stakeholders have “genuine concerns and fears about peaceful elections in Kwara State,” following perpetual violent activities of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its agents.”
