Oyo APC Kicks As PDP Officials Allegedly Mobilised Thugs, Policemen to Stop Akintunde’s Intervention Project In Akinyele Community
Oyo APC Kicks As PDP Officials Allegedly Mobilised Thugs, Policemen to Stop Akintunde’s Intervention Project In Akinyele Community.
The All Progressives Congress in Oyo state has accused the People’s Democratic Party administration of Gov. Seyi Makinde of carrying its alleged anti-masses activities too far and urged the ruling class to stop taking the people of the state for granted as the 2023 general elections draw nearer.
This assertion from the opposition party came in reaction to the reported mobilization of political thugs and policemen to Lagbeja community in Akinyele local government area of the state in the early hours of Tuesday to halt the ongoing construction of a bridge project privately sponsored by Dr. Yunus Akintunde, the candidate of the APC for Oyo Central Senatorial district in the 2023 poll.
Dr. Akintunde had, on Sunday, visited some communities affected by flooding in Akinyele Local Government Area after reading about their plight on the social media and he immediately set the necessary machinery in motion for the construction of a bridge in Lagbeja to reconnect the communities and also ease human and vehicular movement in the area.
The residents of flooded communities which included Lagbeja, Oluana, Akingbile through Laniba to Ajibode along International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Moniya Road, Power line, and Fijabi among 15 other settlements had last week sent a save-our-souls message to the state government without any positive response in the last three years and this made the intervention of the APC chieftain to be well received and applauded by the people of the communities.
But the joy of the residents was cut short on Tuesday when a serving member of the Oyo State House of Assembly representing the area (names withheld) reportedly sent scores of political thugs to halt construction work which had fully commenced on Monday. The team of armed men, who came in two commercial buses, ordered the site supervisor and other people including workers who were found around to either leave the area or risk being dealt with.
According to an eyewitness who pleaded anonymity, “the thugs were known violent characters and they were mobilised from Ojoo. They came around 10am and asked everyone to leave the site immediately or risk being dealt with. One of them was saying that APC was too daring to have come around the community to start a project when it was PDP that owned the land. He mentioned the serving State Honorable and Gov. Seyi Makinde as the only people who could give approval for such project.
“It was not long that a team of policemen led by the DPO of Ojoo came and the thugs started jubilating wild without being checked. The security agents then asked the site workers to leave ostensibly to avoid violent clash as residents were already scampering for safety in view of the threat coming from the PDP thugs.” The source stated.
While addressing journalists who visited his office on Tuesday for an official reaction to the development the Publicity Secretary of Oyo APC, Olawale Sadare, described the incident as shameful, regrettable and anti-masses. “We were taken aback when we received the disturbing reports of the incident from a chieftain of our Party in Akinyele and we later visited the community for confirmation.
“With this, the PDP administration in the state has further demonstrated its anti-people trait and one wonders how this kind of a thing would happen in a civilized society. The residents of the affected communities required urgent help as they have been suffering from flooding for a long time but the needed succour was not forthcoming from the state government. Now, a good-spirited man came to their aid and he is being frustrated on account of dirty politicking. It is not unfortunate but also condemnable.” Sadare stated.
