Following the incessant attacks on the leadership and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council has condemned the assassination attempts on loyalists of the party in the last few months.
The presidential campaign council described as inhuman, diabolic and outrageous the extra-judicial killings and maiming of members of the party since last November after the immediate past governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, temporarily stepped aside.
This is even as the APC senatorial candidate for Osun West, Amidu Tadese, alleged that the PDP candidate for Osun West senatorial district, Lere Oyewumi, coordinated the attack on him.
The council called on President Muhammadu Buhari, inspector general of police and other heads of security agencies, to rescue its members and residents of the state from the sinister attacks being perpetrated by the political hoodlums hired and sponsored by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Addressing a press conference, yesterday, at the Tinubu/Shettima campaign office, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo, the spokesperson of the campaign council in Osun, Remi Omowaye, raised serious concerns over the rising cases of political attacks and assassination attempts being masterminded by the PDP hoodlums since the inception of the present administration in the state.
Omowaye, who narrated his ordeals in the hands of the PDP thugs that attacked him and his followers recently in Ilesa, said the fresh assassination attempt on Tadese on Tuesday night, was a clear indication that PDP and its co-travellers populated with hoodlums and assassins were on the verge to eliminate members of the opposition and perceived enemies in the state before the general election.
He described the palpable unrests that had pervaded the atmosphere in the nooks and crannies of the state as unfortunate, saying it is regrettable that the virtues of peace and unity that Osun was known for had been eroded by the PDP-led government.
“A lot of our party members have been killed by PDP members. We have their names, we can make their names available, they are not less than 10 persons. This is a clear indication that PDP and its loyalists are walking their talks because we could recollect vividly that before the last governorship election in the state, some of the PDP state and National Assembly candidates threatened to attack members of our party.
“We can recollect that the PDP House of Representatives candidate for Ijesa-South, Sanya Omirin and PDP Osun West senatorial district candidate, Lere Oyewumi, had once vowed to use explosive device for election and as well attack our members, and I am sure, this is what is playing out now.
“On December 23, I went to Atakunmosa market in Ilesa for a purpose, and in a broad daylight, I was attacked, our vehicles were sprayed with bullets. Few days after, shortly after Oyetola who branched over at our campaign office in Ilesa to address our members left the venue, our campaign office was attacked. As it is now, our candidates and members have been equally attacked to the extent that they couldn’t even paste posters in their respective domains.
“Just yesterday (Tuesday), Tadese was attacked. Our candidates could not even campaign again and they kept asking: is this not Osun that we all know, where there was peace? We are peace-loving party and we are calling on President Buhari and heads of security agencies to come to our aid.
“There is no doubt that PDP is a party of destruction. As you can see, since Oyetola stepped aside temporarily, the crisis of kidnap has been on the increase. Osun used to be the most peaceful state in Nigeria, but today, the reverse is the case. We don’t need further evidence, just yesterday (Tuesday) people were kidnapped in a broad daylight in Osogbo.
“So, we are using this medium to draw the attention of the entire world to what is happening in Osun. We are calling on President Buhari, inspector general of police, director of Department of State Services, and heads of other security agencies to come to our rescue in Osun. What happened on July 16 governorship election was a clear case of manipulation and that is why they are trying to intimidate us and other citizens,” Omowaye said.
Intimating the media to the assassination attempt on his person on Tuesday, Tadese alleged that Oyewumi coordinated the attack on him.
According to him, Oyewumi led the fully armed political hoodlums on rampage aimed at assassinating him and attack his supporters who had already assembled for the rally in Ikire on Tuesday.