• Seek Tinubu, Yilwatda’s intervention as violence escalates
• Say hoodlums attacked Interior Minister’s loyalists, spared gov’s supporters
• Aiyedatiwa blames ‘miscreants’ for crisis, denies involvement
• Two killed, one in coma as Ondo APC ward congress crisis escalates
• Hoodlums, who wanted me dead, attacked my brother, Adetimehin states
• We’ll unravel those behind attack, say police

ELDERS of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have called on President Bola Tinubu and the party’s national leadership to intervene in what they described as a deepening crisis marked by violent attacks, particularly on the State Chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, and other leaders of the party.

The elders, under the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum, while warning that the party’s democratic foundations are under threat, said that the Tuesday violent attack at the party’s secretariat signposted an assault not just on individuals but on the institutional integrity of the APC itself.

According to the Chairman of the Forum, Eratus Akeju, during a media briefing in Akure, the state capital, when leaders are beaten and elders disgraced within the precincts of a party secretariat, the very foundation of political order is threatened.

It would be recalled that during a stakeholders’ meeting of the party on Tuesday, some hoodlums, suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), invaded the party’s secretariat in Akure, the state capital, where the chairman of the party in the state, Ade Adetimehin, was beaten and injured alongside 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 has dismissed as false.

An octogenarian, who was represented by Demola Ijabiyi, condemned the incident and called for a thorough investigation and appropriate sanctions, as well as clear directives that will reinforce discipline across party structures.
He said: “We, therefore, call on the President and Leader of our great party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene decisively.

“We also urge the National Chairman of the APC and the leadership of the National Working Committee to act swiftly.”

HOWEVER, Aiyedatiwa again denied any form of involvement in the attack on the leaders of the state chapter of the APC, including Adetimehin.
According to Aiyedatiwa, who led party leaders from across the state to a stakeholders’ meeting with members of the congress committees from the national secretariat of the party, the attack was the work of those he described as “miscreants” with vested interests in the Wednesday’s ward congresses of the party in the state.

The governor, in an interview with newsmen shortly after a stakeholders’ meeting, disclosed that the initial plan for a 10:00 a.m. meeting on Tuesday was never formalised, as he had requested it be moved to 2:00 p.m. to allow him and other top officials, including the Speaker and Deputy Governor, to attend.

Aiyedatiwa attributed the violence to factional disputes over candidacy, stressing that the earlier incident was a gathering of rival supporters rather than an official party meeting.

IN a related development, two people have been killed in Idanre community, Idanre Local Council of Ondo State, amid the escalating violence rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The two victims, yet to be identified, were attacked and killed during the ward congress of the APC in the council by hoodlums.
During the incident in Idanre, the younger brother of the State Chairman of the party, Raphael Adetimehin, who is currently in a coma, was also macheted by the hoodlums alongside five others with deep cuts.

According to sources, the community was thrown into tension when the hoodlums, suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the venue of the ward congress, shooting sporadically into the air.

During the melee, vehicles were destroyed and set ablaze, while many members of the party, who were waiting for the exercise to commence, sustained varying degrees of injuries while trying to flee from the scene.

Chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, while confirming the attack on his brother, said that the hoodlums mistook him for Raphael with the plot to assassinate him after he alleged that the move failed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, who visited the community, has stated that an investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding the attack, as well as apprehend those responsible for the heinous act.

The Police Command, in a statement by the Police Spokesperson, Abayomi Jimoh, stated: “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 to protect lives and property.”

Meanwhile, Aiyedatiwa has directed security agencies to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the violent outbreaks that marred the ward congresses in some parts of the state yesterday.

The governor, while condemning the attacks that resulted in fatalities and injuries, said that his administration would not tolerate any breakdown of law and order under any guise in any part of the state, especially in Idanre.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, the governor urged all aspirants contesting for the party’s positions to call their followers and supporters to order.