Violence and chaos erupted across several wards in Akure North Local Government Area during the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ward Congress, leaving multiple party members and leaders injured.

Speaking on the attack, former commissioner and Director General of Grassroots Movement for Tinubu (GMT), Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, narrated how he narrowly escaped an attack by political thugs.

Yusuf-Ogunleye described the incidents as a coordinated assault on his supporters and other party members by rival factions seeking control of ward executives.

He explained: “Today, our National Secretariat fixed the Ward Congress nationwide for the APC. Despite the ugly incident yesterday, when we were chased away from the State Secretariat of the party, we decided to proceed.

“If not for God, we would have been dead. I could hear them saying, ‘Where is Saka? We will kill him today.’”

According to him, the violence unfolded simultaneously in multiple locations, including Ward 1, where one person was critically injured. He also alleged that the council chairman in Ward 8, Johnson Ogunbolude, confiscated the phones of party members, harassed them and dispersed the gathering, declaring that no congress would hold.

He further revealed that in Ward 12, another party member who was beaten into a coma and injured was hospitalised and remains in critical condition, while in Ward 3, supporters were reportedly beaten with sticks and machetes.

Yusuf-Ogunleye claimed that a former House of Assembly member brought thugs in his vehicle to attack members, intensifying the crisis.

“When I received calls from our supporters about the attacks, I drove across the council area from ward to ward. The scale of the violence was shocking.

“Several of our members have been taken to the hospital for treatment as a result of the injuries they sustained during the attacks.”

Yusuf-Ogunleye also alleged that some of the assailants were affiliated with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and coordinated with local political leaders to disrupt the congress.

The former commissioner described the incidents as a serious breakdown of party discipline and a threat to democratic processes within the APC, urging the party leadership to take decisive action to ensure the safety of members and the proper conduct of ward-level elections.

This episode adds to rising tensions within the APC in Ondo State, where intra-party disputes have frequently resulted in violent clashes, raising concerns over the party’s ability to maintain order ahead of upcoming elections.

Reacting to the development, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan, said the pockets of issues in the party’s ward congress had nothing to do with the governor.

Adeniyan said: “The Governor is the leader of the party and father to all party members. He has always provided leadership that embraces all groups and interests in the party since he became governor.

“He is the first governor in the history of the state to hold quarterly stakeholders’ engagements with party leaders, and this has fostered unity and a sense of belonging in the APC in the state.

“The pockets of issues in the ward congress of the party have nothing to do with the governor, and that was why he called on security agencies to restore order at the Party Secretariat on Tuesday.

“Mr Governor has also called on security agencies to investigate the crisis that took place in Idanre earlier today and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The Governor urges all aspirants contesting for party positions to call their followers and supporters to order, as the government will not tolerate any breakdown of law and order in any part of the state.”

(Nigerian Tribune)