The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State has called on security agencies to investigate an attack on the campaign team of the Accord governorship candidate, Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat, in Ibadan, which reportedly left several supporters injured.
The incident, which occurred around noon on Wednesday in the Molete area of the state capital, has heightened tension in parts of the city.
Eyewitness accounts indicated that some suspected members of the Park Management System emerged during a street campaign by Accord supporters and attacked occupants of the vehicles conveying members of the campaign team.
The attackers were said to have wielded dangerous weapons, inflicting varying degrees of injuries on their victims.
Reacting to the incident, the Oyo State APC accused Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration of allegedly encouraging political intimidation through directives purportedly issued to commercial motorists to display campaign materials of the Accord Peoples Movement, also known as APM.
The party’s position was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, and made available to journalists in Ibadan.
The APC alleged that the attack was part of a pattern of violence against opposition parties in the state, claiming that its members had also been attacked in three separate locations in Ibadan the previous week.
It attributed the incidents to political actors allegedly linked to the APM and the PMS, while also accusing suspected political thugs of vandalising campaign billboards, signboards and posters belonging to opposition candidates.
The party, however, called for an independent investigation into the latest incident, urging the police and other security agencies to identify and prosecute those responsible.
“The attack on Accord campaign train happened in broad daylight and some of the residents could identify the culprits, but we do not want to pre-empt the positive outcome of an objective and thorough investigation expected from the police and other security agencies,” the statement said.
The APC urged residents to remain calm and vigilant, insisting that those responsible for political violence must be exposed and brought to justice.
It further alleged that commercial motorists were being pressured into participating in APM campaign activities, claiming that the same political interests were behind attacks on opposition members.
The party warned against a return to the era of political violence, recalling that the administration of the late former governor Abiola Ajimobi had moved the state away from such incidents.
“The government of late Senator Abiola Ajimobi took us away from the era of political violence, and attempts by the current administration will be resisted by the good people of the state,” the APC added.
