October 20: A chronicle of violence and accusations in Ondo State

Ondo Governor Olusegun  Mimiko

The disruption of a public lecture organised by members of the Ondo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati, on April 20 this year, when supporters of the party and those of the Labour party clashed, marked the beginning of violence among political parties in the state.

Our correspondent learnt that the violent clash started around noon on the fateful day when some people suspected to be members of the LP stormed the venue of the event on Oyemekun Road, Akure, the state capital, singing and dancing.

The LP supporters had argued that the programme ought to have been organised in collaboration with the state government since the deceased was a governor.

The situation became rowdy when eminent guests, mostly members of the ACN arrived at the venue in company with their supporters who waited behind in front of the hall, also singing and dancing.

It assumed a violent dimension when some members of the LP, who had worked with the late Adefarati either as commissioners, special assistants or advisers got to the venue and were prevented from entering the hall by some hoodlums, who did not also spare other members of the LP who had sympathy for the late former governor.

The LP supporters on the other side of the road, at that stage, surged forward and stopped members of the ACN from also entering the hall as a form of retaliation claiming that the late Adefarati was not an ACN member but a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy until his death.

The LP supporters argued that the event which was meant to honour the late former governor of the state should not be politicised or turned to an ACN affair.

Two exotic cars which belonged to a former Chairman of LP, Dr. Olaiya Oni, and the House of Representative member representing Akure South and North Federal constituency, Mr. Ifedayo Abegunde, were allegedly vandalised in the process.

Pockets of violence were recorded in many parts of the state but they were curtailed when the Independent National Electoral Commission in the state, banned all forms of campaigns or rallies until July 21. The police also took a pre-emptive measure by stopping all types of political gatherings in places where clashes had been recorded.

The fragile peace was however destroyed on Saturday, July 28 when the ACN supporters who accompanied their governorship candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, drove against the traffic close to the state secretariat of the LP on Oyemekun Road.

They were allegedly challenged by the driver of an LP branded bus and the arguments led to a free-for-all in which dangerous weapons and ammunitions were, allegedly, used, while the LP secretariat was vandalised and vehicles of some officials destroyed.

The LP’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Femi Okunjemiruwa, explained that the incident occurred when leaders of the party were in the car park in front of the secretariat and they heard gunshots fired from the convoy of Akeredolu.

Okunjemiruwa said the leaders and members of the party who were thrown into panic ran for dear life.

He said, “Several other shots and missiles were directed at the secretariat while vehicles parked there were destroyed.

“Three vehicles — a Toyota Camry (BD 897 AKR), Mazda 626 (BC 671 AKR), and Toyota Avensis (AE 173 SUA) — were badly damaged while several others were slightly damaged. Bullet marks were seen on walls of the party’s secretariat.

“Mrs. Uche Umeh, who sells recharge cards and soft drinks close to the party secretariat, had her wares destroyed and purse snatched,” he added.

But the Special Adviser to the ACN candidate on Media, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, accused the LP members of attacking the convoy of Akeredolu in front of the LP secretariat after the party’s congress.

Ajanaku said, “The incident happened right at Lafe junction on Oyemekun Road when some hoodlums blocked the convoy of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, after he was elected as the governorship candidate of the party.

“They hauled stones and pebbles at the convoy and in order to prevent any ugly situation, some security men in the convoy ward them off so that we could continue our procession.

“It is not true that those in our convoy destroyed cars parked within the LP secretariat. None of our people even crossed to the other side of the road not to talk of attacking the people there or their property.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Adeniran Aremu, confirmed the incident.

Aremu said, “Our men went to the scene immediately after we received a distress call and immediately restored normalcy. However, the ACN supporters were unruly in their behaviour.”

But, Ajanaku insisted that the police were mischievous and that their statement did not represent the true account of what happened.

Meanwhile, Okunjemiruwa, who claimed that his car was badly damaged, said all the party executive members were meeting to appraise the successfully conducted primary when the incident occurred.

Three people who were arrested over the attack were arraigned the following week before a Magistrate court. They were charged with armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms.

The police prosecutor, Inspector Zakare Ibrahim, in the charge, accused Messrs Folagbade Dapo, Korede Omotayo and Sunday Olusola and two others, Kelly Ajanaku and Sopopo, who were not in court, of spearheading the attack.

The prosecutor told the court that the accused “did conspire together to commit felony to wit: armed robbery contrary to and punishable under Section 6 (b) and (c) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”

The charge further reads that the accused, “on the same date, time and place while armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons did rob one Akinmoju Folarin of cash of Ninety Seven Thousand Naira (N97,000.00k).”

The plea of the three accused persons was not taken after their arraignment.

The presiding Magistrate, O.J. Adelegan, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case till August 13.

Earlier, there was a clash between members of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party and the LP on Friday, July 27 in Ode-Irele town. The clash according to the PDP’s Director of Publicity, Mr. Ayodele Fadaka, was caused by the ruling LP government which decided to inaugurate a community-based project on the same day that the PDP had obtained police permit to hold a political event.

Fadaka said, “Some prominent members of the LP were to defect to PDP on that day but because of the calibre of personalities involved, the LP hurriedly arranged their event in order to cause confusion.”

The PDP chairman in the state, Mr. Ebenezer Alabi, accused men of the state command of the Nigeria Police Force of being biased in handling the case as well as others involving his party and others in the state.

Alabi, at a news conference specifically accused the Police of indiscriminate arrest of his members as a result of  the clash.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adeniran Aremu, dismissed the allegation and insisted that the matter was treated on its merit by the state Criminal Investigations Department.

Aremu said officers of the state CID arrested all those involved in the fracas and carried out their investigation professionally without looking at the political colouration.

He said, “The police are not biased in this case. The perpetrators were arrested and referred to the state CID. All parties involved were interrogated and the case was treated on its merit.”

But Alabi insisted that, “To our amazement, on Monday 30th July, the Police and Soldiers embarked on a spate of arrests, of members of our party.

“Some of those arrested by the Soldiers were taken to the Army Barrack Okitipupa where they were interrogated and eventually made to write statements. Mr. Albert Akintoye, a member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency, was among those arrested.

“The others were taken to Police Headquarters, Akure where they were detained and tortured for two days before being arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court, Akure, on Wednesday August 1, 2012 and subsequently remanded at Olokuta prison, Akure,” he added.

Alabi warned that trouble loomed, “If these actions are not halted immediately and mechanism put in place to checkmate the recurrence of these unwholesome acts or other acts aimed at jeopardising the will of the people in the forthcoming October 20 governorship election in Ondo State.”

However, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of G department at the Force headquarters, Mr. Abdurahman Akano, at a stakeholders forum organised by the state police command and the INEC on Wednesday, urged politicians in the state to play the game according to the rules.

He said no politician, no matter how highly placed, would henceforth, be allowed to make use of armed private security arrangements during procession, rallies or campaigns.

Akano also asked the various political parties to submit their campaign schedules so that the security agencies in the state and executives of the parties would form a committee that will produce a rancour-free time-table.

However, the desired peace necessary for a trouble-free poll come October 20 would be achieved if all stakeholders follow the advice of Rev.Fr. Patrick Adebayo of the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Catholic Church. The priest advised politicians to embrace peace, adding that they were all guilty of using thugs to prosecute their political campaigns.