Date: 2014-09-03

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has asked the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to apologize to the people of Ajase-Ipo, in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, over violence visited on the restive community on Wednesday, 27th July, 2014 by confessed APC youths.

The PDP, in a statement signed and released by the PDP State Youths Leader, Mr. Segun Olawoyin, while reacting to an earlier statement by some youth leaders of the APC, said the fact that the APC youths tactically owned up to the widely reported violence clearly betrays an earlier statement released by the secretary of the APC in the state, Mr. Yemi Afolayan, wherein he denied the violence.

It will be recalled that at a meeting of Kwara South APC Elders which held penultimate Wednesday, some youths of the APC from the zone reportedly invaded the meeting, beat up the elders as a form of protest against the elders' alleged endorsement of the incumbent Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for 2nd term.

In the statement signed by one Sunkanmi Ereoye, the APC youths though admitted that there was a fracas but denied that it was caused by their disagreement with the elders over the 2nd term ambition of Governor Ahmed.

"But the questions on the leaps of Kwarans now are: Why should the 'minor misunderstanding unrelated to the elders' meeting lead to the hospitalization of over 20 APC chieftains as narrated by a former Commissioner of Works in Kwara State and reported in major newspapers? Why were the elders scampering to safety through the windows of the venue of the meeting if in truth the violence visited on the APC elders was 'unrelated' to the endorsement of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for 2nd term in office?

If the fracas was so minor, why were guns, cutlasses and other dangerous ammunitions freely used by the APC youths? Why did innocent shop owners within the vicinity of the violence hurriedly close their shops to safety? Is it possible for all the print and electronic media that reported the violent confrontation between the APC youths and their elders to lie about the situations?"

"If a supposed 'minor misunderstanding' within the APC could lead to the hospitalization of over 20 chieftains of the party, how many number of dead bodies would Kwara be counting by now were the fracas to be major in the definition of the APC? Does the Kwara public or at least the residents of Ajase-Ipo not deserve to know the 'misunderstanding' within the hierarchy of the APC that led to the monumental violence visited on the peaceful town?"

The truth is, lying and violence has become an everyday thing in the Kwara APC. This bug, unfortunately, has caught even the youths of the party, who ordinarily should be vanguards for truth. This is because as youths, we should understand that for every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.

That a supposed minor 'misunderstanding' between the youths and elders of the APC would result into the hospitalization of over 20 chieftains of the party is not only alarming but clearly indicative of a symptom deeper than the act of violence in itself. It is indicative of a party that is fast losing its grip on its members; it is indicative of a party that is badly divided against itself – a party of indiscipline, of disruptive behavior!

But instead of owing up to its inadequacy, the APC leadership in Kwara has continued to live in denial. The unfortunate scenario in Ajase-Ipo is yet another confirmation of the age long adage that no matter how fast lie runs, truth will one day certainly catch up with it! Truth has today caught up with the APC, morality therefore demands that the leadership of the party should apologize to the Kwara people on their members' unprovoked disturbance of peace in parts of the state.

Segun Olawoyin
APC State Youth Leader