Post Guber Election Crisis: Attack Of Our Members In Iree By Accord Party Thugs Uncalled For, Wicked, Barbaric- Osun APC Cries Out

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC has condemned the violence attacks on its members and supporters in Iree, Boripe Local Government Council Area of the state, by the Accord Party hoodlums, five days after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Governor Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the election.

Information has it that no fewer than 10 members and supporters of our party in Iree have been critically injured, while several property were destroyed by the suspected members of the Accord Party in an organised manner.

The victims, identified as Ige Kayode, Oyeniyi Segun, Oladosu Yinka, Sobalaje Ibraheem, Peter Korede Adejare and many others, are reportedly receiving treatment in various hospitals in Iree and the neighbouring towns since Sunday, following the declaration of the results that the APC supporters have been subjected to attacks by the Accord Party hoodlums.

The major motor park in the town was completely demolished, while the business places of some APC members were also attacked at various locations in the town.

In a viral video, the Governor Ademola Adeleke-appointed Aree of Iree, Oba Muritala Oyelakin, was captured interrogating a victim of the attack who is a member of our party under duress at his residence in Iree.

According to a petition by the counsel to the affected APC members, Abiodun Olaide, forwarded to the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibraheem Gotan, the APC accused Gbadamosi Ibraheem, popularly known as Gbedu Lasisi Oyekanmi Bintin Laye, and some other suspects currently at large of spearheading the attacks.

Weeks before the election, the Governor Adeleke-installed monarch visited the governor and expressed the confidence that the governor would secure an overwhelming victory in Iree.

During the visit, he was also reported to have claimed that the people of Iree had endorsed Governor Adeleke for a second term.

The statement generated strong reactions among the APC members in the community which led to a response from the Iree chapter of the APC whereby it was pointedly clarified that any endorsement attributed to the controversial traditional ruler did not represent the collective position of the people of Iree, stressing that a significant number of the residents, particularly the youths, remained committed to the APC ideal and ideology.

The outcome of the election subsequently demonstrated the strength of the APC in the community, as the party defeated the Accord Party in Iree, despite the earlier claim of the overwhelming endorsement for Governor Adeleke by the questionable monarch.

We, as a party, are expressing a deep concern over the unfavourable reports that some of our members who were attacked by the Accord Party hoodlums were subsequently taken to the palace of the traditional ruler for questioning on the directive of the monarch in order to put pressure on them to implicate some of the APC leaders in the matters unrelated to them.

We are also frowning at an alleged directive of the questionable monarch to demolish the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) garage in Iree over the political affiliations of some of its members.

This unsavoury development has created considerable tension in Iree, with residents and political supporters living in fear for their safety.

We are therefore, calling on the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS) and other relevant security agencies, as well as the Federal Government, to urgently intervene and thoroughly investigate the allegations.

We are also calling for a comprehensive investigation into the reported attacks on the APC members in Iree and the prosecution of anyone found responsible for acts of violence, intimidation or destruction of their property.

Our party remains committed to peace, democracy and the rule of law. Political differences must not become a justification for violence, intimidation or the destruction of means of livelihoods of the people.

e-SIGNED:

Mogaji KOLA OLABISI, Osun State APC Director of Media and Information.