Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
No fewer than six persons, including a chairmanship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), sustained serious injuries on Wednesday as hoodlums numbering about 25 attacked the secretariat of the party in Idanre, the headquarters of Idanre Local Government Area in Ondo State.
The hoodlums, who were reportedly armed with lethal weapons, stormed the party office in the morning and and descended heavily on those holding meeting at the secretariat.
The attack comes barely four days to the councillorship and chairmanship elections in the State.
It was gathered that the attackers, suspected to be political thugs, stormed the party secretariat following a tip-off by some members of the party attending a crucial meeting ahead of the council’s election scheduled for Saturday.
The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has fixed Saturday for the Local Government election, with no fewer than 10 political parties participating in it.
One of the victims, Bankole Akinselure, who is the chairmanship candidate of the SDP, said the attack came suddenly, with no one expecting such an ugly development during the meeting.
A member of the SDP who was caught in up in the attack told our correspondent that the thugs were hired to disrupt the meeting.
‘The attack was launched on us during a meeting at our office (SDP Secretariat) at Agosile Odode in Idanre.
‘These thugs came fully armed and attacked SDP members at the meeting with cutlasses and axes including stones.
‘In fact, the thugs destroyed all the posters and billboards that were posted at the secretariat because those who sponsored them are threatened with the popularity of our candidate for the Saturday’s election.
‘We had to quickly call the police to intervene but, surprisingly to us, they came late and started watching these thugs attacking and destroying our properties,’ he said.
Mr Akinselure, the Chairmanship candidate of the party, also confirmed the attack and expressed disappointment with the inaction of the police who responded to the scene.
‘It is true we were attacked and I put a call to Divisional Police Officer at Olofin Police Station and Deputy Commissioner of Police but it is unfortunate that the policemen who came to the scene of the attack could not stop the thugs.’
He said that the attack was targeted towards him due to his rising popularity, adding that the incident has been reported to the monarch of the community.
Police spokesman Mr Tee Leo-Ikoro told our correspondent that he was yet to be properly briefed on the incident.