The Action Alliance Party has alleged attack on its members returning from rally at Eganyi and Geregu villages in Ajaokuta Local Government Area last Thursday.
At a press conference held in Lokoja on Monday , the Zonal Vice Chairman, Kogi Central Senatorial District of the Party, Comrade Abdullaziz Yusuf, said the alleged attack was targeted at assassinating him.
He said that political thugs dressed in mobile police uniform double crossed one of their campaign vehicles shooting sporadically into the air and disembarked all the occupants of the vehicle.
According to him , the alleged thugs laid the occupants of the vehicle by the road side and dispossessed them of their valuables and asking for his whereabout.
Explaining how the incident happened, Comrade Yusuf said, ” I and in company of the party local government chairmen, the Director General of our campaign organization and other party leaders, attended a rally for our Governorship candidate Otunba Olayinka Braimoh held at Eganyi and Geregu village on 26th October 2023 between 12 noon and 5pm
“On our way from the Geregu village rally, driving back to Okene, we suddenly realized we were being trailed and one of our party car was eventually intercepted just at the Geregu power plant station at about 5:40pm by the occupants of a black Prado jeep as well as a black Ford Hilux loaded with Ak 47 rifles, with fierce looking occupants.
“After one of our party car was intercepted, a fierce looking thug wearing mobile Police uniform were shooting sporadically.
“As the shooting and threat was going on, our party member in the intercepted car, a Siena bus was forcefully disembarked and made to lie down on the floor while they started scrutinizing their faces and asking them my whereabout.
“In an apparent effort to assassinate me, as God will have it, I was in another vehicle that had managed to have diverted when we noticed the trailing from their vehicles. It was when they could not find me that the gun wading thugs began to ransack our supporters who were still lying helplessly on the ground and launched what I will term a robbery operation, dispossessing our supporters of a cumulative N60,000.
Comrade Yusuf who said the matter had since been reported to the police, appealed to the Kogi State Police command to do a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to book, as well as investigate the use of Police orderlies by some politicians as political thugs to harass other law abiding politicians on campaign rallies.
He also appealed to the police in the state to ensure they provided adequate security for the people of the state before, during and after the election, in line with the promise made by the Inspector General of Police.
The Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) SP William Ovye Aya when contacted before filing the report, said the command is yet to receive report of any attack but promised to contact the divisional police station in Adogo the headquarters of Ajaokuta local government area.
