Some youths suspected to be political thugs allegedly invaded a meeting venue of a group of supporters of the Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, in his hometown, Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state, on Sunday evening.
The hoodlums were said to have injured some of the All Progressives Congress members at the venue of the meeting, held in the Igboroko area of the town. They also allegedly vandalised a bus branded ‘Akeredolu for second term’.
According to an eyewitness, when the thugs got to the area where the meeting was being held, they started shooting indiscriminately to announce their presence in the area. Many of the governor’s supporters at the meeting were allegedly hit by stray bullets.
The leader of the group, Mr Olayemi Olamide, alleged that the attack was sponsored by one of the APC governorship aspirants in Owo town.
He said, “We were holding our meeting as a group to declare our total support for the re-election of Governor Akeredolu when these thugs brandishing sophisticated weapons such as guns, axes, and cutlasses arrived in two vans and a white pick-up.
“The thugs fired gunshots sporadically in the open and destroyed Aketi’s campaign bus packed along the street. People scampered for their dear lives while the melee lasted for about an hour.
” Some of our people were hit by stray bullets fired by the thugs.”
When contacted on Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Tee-Leo Ikoro, confirmed the incident but said nobody was killed and the command had not arrested anyone yet in connection with the matter.
“We can confirm that the incident happened when our men got to the scene, there were sporadic gunshots, so they had to retreat and nobody has been arrested yet. We have started an investigation into the matter,” Ikoro said.
