The Biodun Oyebanji Campaign Organisation (BAO) has condemned the violent attack on members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Itaji-Ekiti Saturday, which resulted in the killing of one APC member, Tope Ajayi, while many others sustained severe injuries.
Oyebanji is the Governorship candidate of the ruling APC in Ekiti State governorship election.
BAO Director, Media and Publicity, Rt. Hon Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement alleged that several members of APC are presently hospitalized while medical personnel are battling to save their lives following life-threatening injuries they received in the attack carried out by Social Democratic Party (SDP) thugs led by a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bimbo Daramola.
The statement indicated that one of the victims, Joshua John, who is presently at a critical condition at the State University Teaching Hospital, said he was tortured and shot in the leg in the presence of SDP candidate, Chief Segun Oni and Hon. Daramola.
Following the development, BAO warned Oni and his supporters against further attacks on APC members, saying the warning to SDP and its candidate became imperative against the background of similar murderous conduct in the past when Oni deployed thugs to attack opposition members in his desperate bid to win the governorship rerun poll in 2009.
The narrated that the APC campaign procession in Ekiti North senatorial district was going on peacefully until it was disrupted by SDP thugs under the command of Daramola at Itaji-Ekiti.
The attack was carried out by violent thugs who arrived in a Toyota Hilux and Tacoma vehicle, and were seen taking instructions from Daramola who was present at the scene of the crime.
The SDP thugs allegedly shot at many vehicles in the procession including the one belonging to the Special Adviser on Roads, Hon. Sunday Adunmo also known as Galaxy, in what was apparently an “unprovoked attack.”
The Director of Media and Publicity of the Biodun Oyebanji Campaign Organisation, Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, said “It is very disturbing that Daramola was seen by eyewitnesses personally leading thugs parading as security officials, and instructing them to shoot directly at APC members in Itaji-Ekiti. He and others culpable of the breach of peace are to be held accountable.”
Daramola, who has a predilection for violence and inciting statements, was until recently a member of the APC before decamping to the SDP.
Olatunbosun explained that the activities of the Biodun Oyebanji Campaign Organization had been rancour-free and devoid of any violence since it began. “It is tragic that within one week of Daramola decamping to the SDP, we have recorded a spate of violence including an attack on our campaign rally at Oke Ayedun on Friday, and now the brutal killing of our member today, and the maiming of many others who are now battling for their lives in the hospital.”
He commiserated with the family of the deceased, and called on the security agencies in the state to investigate the incident thoroughly and ensure the perpetrators are brought to book, while calling on all APC members and the general public to go about their normal activities without fear.
“I assure all our peace-loving members and the good people of Ekiti State that despite the scheming of Bimbo Daramola and his newfound desperate cohorts in the SDP, the June 18 governorship election would be peaceful and the APC would be victorious”, he concluded.
The Oyebanji Campaign called on the Police to invite Daramola and other SDP henchmen to state all they know about the attack for justice to be done to the deceased and the injured and prevent a reoccurrence.
“The death in Itaji-Ekiti is an addition to the statistics of politically-motivated fatalities allegedly traced to Oni in his desperation for power.”
The Oyebanji Campaign organization said it was in possession of intelligence that hundreds of thugs and youths had been armed with guns and other dangerous weapons across the state to cause mayhem, accusing Oni of desperation to cause violence on Election Day to scare voters in areas where he is not popular.
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