Ondo LP accuses ACN of attacking party office

Labour Party in Ondo State on Sunday alleged that thugs in the convoy of the Action Congress of Nigeria’s candidate for the October 20 governorship election, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, on Saturday, attacked the LP secretariat on Oyemekun Road, destroying vehicles parked within the premises.

A statement by the  Publicity Secretary of the LP in the state, Mr. Femi Okunjemiruwa, said the leaders and members of the party, who were thrown into panic, fled the scene.

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

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

“Mrs. Uche Umeh, who sells 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, 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 warded 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 development.

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

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