Date: 2019-03-04

Barely a week to the gubernatorial and state assembly elections across the country, a number of human rights advocates, observers, security experts and other stakeholders are concerned about increasing violence in the north-central state of Kwara, where the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) are locked in an unusual political battle for the control of the state, reports Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor.

THE people of Kwara were shocked last month when political thugs unleashed unusual violence on many parts of the state, leading to the killing and maiming of persons as well as the destruction of properties across the state. Not a few people expressed concern over what many described as unusual developments in the politics of the north-central state.

Chief Theophilus Adegboye was a notable member of the Kwara State chapter of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the Second Republic. The Offa-born octogenarian also played active politics in the truncated Third Republic when he ran for a seat in the National Assembly on the platform of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN). Speaking to The Nation on the spate of violence ahead of the next governorship election in the state, he described it as unprecedented.

"Let the truth be told, the gladiators must realize that they are dragging Kwara into a serious crisis that may not end with these elections. Too many people are eager to forwent trouble over votings, when they all should be concerned about how we will have a peaceful election. The news we daily hear about killing and maiming are too worrisome and these things didn't use to happen in Kwara.

"Election day in Kwara before now use to be like a festival. Nobody think about fighting. We all want to enjoy the holiday and laugh over the eventual outcome. You will see opposition politicians laughing and gisting together before, during and after the election. I recall that we use to sit under the same canopy, UPN and NPN chieftains in Offa alike, and nobody fights anybody.

"But since the advent of this 2019 general election campaigns, it has been violence all over the place. It is unfortunate. It is so bad that people are now very afraid to even think of going out and vote. The gladiators must be told to end these killing and maiming of persons as well as the destruction of properties across the state. That is not what Kwara politics is known for. We are known for the drama we bring into our political contests, not killings," he explained.

AbdulAziz Imam, a program officer with the Voters' Rights Network (VRN) in Ilorin, said even the rhetorics that have emanated from political actors since campaign started have largely been violent. He accused both chieftains and members of both the ruling PDP and the opposition APC of fueling hate and enmity with the speeches they have been making on their campaign trails.

"We have not seen much of the singing and dancing that Kwara politics has been known for over the years. The dramatic flowing rhetorics of politicians like Olusola Saraki, Cornelius Adebayo, Josiah Olawoyin, Shaaba Lafiagi, and many others of that glorious era, have been replaced by violent threats, abusive innuendos, barefaced curses and outright attacks on persons during campaigns," he lamented.

Unending blood-letting

Last Wednesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) petitioned security agencies over the alleged attack on Lola Ashiru, its senatorial Candidate for Kwara South. Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. He said the alleged attacks, which occurred in Ojoku town in Kwara South Senatorial District of the state left no fewer than eight persons injured, while two others were shot dead.

Issa-Onilu noted that the Palace of the Olojoku of Ojoku, HRH Oba Abdulganiyu Adegboyega Afolabi was not spared in the attacks, saying that the monarch was also stoned. He called on security agencies to fish out and arrest the masterminds of the attack, who he said have since gone into hiding. Issa-Onilu added that such crimes could not be swept under the carpet in the name of politics, adding that the mastermind and his accomplices must face the law for their involvement.

Sources at the scene of the incident vowed that the attack was specifically against supporters of Ashiru, who was leading a campaign rally to the palace of the traditional ruler of Ojoku. Ojoku is the hometown of Senator Ibrahim of the PDP, who is seeking re-election. "The attack was caused some hoodlums ordered the APC campaigners to stop the chant of their political slogan, "O to ge" (it's enough).

"Soon, some youths gathered and started chanting 'O tun ya' (one more time) the PDP slogan, leading to a confrontation between the two camps. The APC campaign team came under a serious attack during which various dangerous weapons were used. Some people died and many people were injured in the melee that followed. Even the royal father and his people were not spared," a source claimed.

Barely 24 hours after the Ojoku attack, news filtered in that the convoy of the vice president Yemi Osibajo was attacked by political thugs who fired gun shots at the APC campaign train. The thugs fled immediately after the shooting spree. Reporting the incident and calling on the police to halt the attacks on its chieftains, the APC said the brazen attack on the Vice President was the height of intolerance.

Rafiu Ajakaiye, media aide to APC governorship candidate in the state, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, said "We condemn the brazen attack today in Ilorin on the convoy of the Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo by armed PDP thugs, culminating in life-threatening gunshot injuries to at least two of our supporters while many others got seriously injured running for their lives"

"The vice president was at Isale Aluko suburb of Ilorin on a door-to-door campaign when some dare-devil gunmen opened fire at his convoy which included thousands of APC members and supporters." "In what is a reminiscence of the Offa robbery, this attack is the height of recklessness on the part of these street urchins who have long been empowered and armed by the discredited dynasty to terrorise our community and anyone who has contrary views to their amala politics."

Last month, thugs attacked the family quarters of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in Ilorin, the state capital after same occurrence took place a week earlier. Saraki who visited the affected areas and patients to assess the level of damages done however urged both his family members and the people of the state not to retaliate. "I have urged my family members and all the people of Agbaji to remain calm and not be provoked into retaliation or reprisal attacks," he said back then.

Trouble had started earlier when the vandalization of billboards belonging to political parties and their candidates in the state by unknown persons suddenly became rampant. Tension rose as PDP and APC engaged in accusations and counter-accusations over the issue. Both parties lost a number of billboards across the state as the development snowballed into an orgy of destruction.

Also, last Christmas day, the supporters of the Senate President, Sen Bukola Saraki and the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had clashed in Ilorin during the annual fundraising ceremony of Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) disrupting the programme in the process.

Abdulrazaq was invited to the podium by the organisers to announce his donation when supporters of the two rival political parties clashed, forcing the security officers of Emir of Ilorin, Alh Ibrahim Sulu Gambari to quickly take him away from the ceremony when the situation became uncontrollable. Both parties later accused each other of instigating the crisis.

More worries

Ajakaiye added that, "Coming just a day after two of our supporters were killed in Ojoku in the convoy of our senatorial candidate Arc. Lola Ashiru, this is becoming too much and the madness must stop. Going into an election with these thugs clearly on the loose is an existential threat not just to all of us challenging the misrule in our state but to the entire people of the state and their properties.

"We call for immediate arrest and prosecution of these thugs. We also demand investigations to reveal those who gave the orders for these deadly attacks. We call for all measures to be taken to ensure safety of lives and properties and sanctity of the ballot box in Kwara and beyond. "No one's political interest should be at the expense of human lives and their properties. We insist that a political contest is a contest of ideas and no one must be allowed to cow or kill others in the process."

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara, Malam Garba Attahiru-Madami, has also expressed concern over the recent political violence in the state. Attahiru-Madami, who spoke at an interactive session with traditional rulers in the state on Monday in Ilorin, appealed to them to educate their subjects on the need to maintain peace during and after the general elections. He said the traditional rulers were brought to the interactive session to rub minds ahead of the elections.

"I want to appeal to royal fathers to go back to their domains and invite leaders of political parties and their supporters and talk to them about peace. "We must conduct ourselves in a peaceful manner before, during and after the coming general elections. "I am sad because our campaign in Kwara has become violent; in December, the news came to me that destruction of campaign billboards was rampant," he said.

Even the police command in the state is worried about the turn of events as the governorship election approaches. While calling on the gladiators to eschew further violence, the command said it is doing all it can to nab those involved in the ongoing killings and maiming across the state. On Wednesday, the Kwara State Police Command confirmed the attack and said six suspects had been arrested.

A press statement issued by Ajayi Okasanmi, the Police spokesperson in Kwara State, noted that the command was on the trail of other suspects. "The command received with astonishment the reported attack unleashed on Ashiru and his campaign train in Ojoku, Oyun Local government Area of Kwara State. Immediately the report was received, the Commissioner of Police in Kwara State, CP Kayode Egbetokun, dispatched to the scene of the attack at Ojoku a team of policemen.

The team was led by the DPO Ilemona and the Squadron Commander 68 PMF, Offa. The teams successfully brought the situation under control, rescued the candidate unhurt and arrested suspects who were actively involved in the attack. Manhunt for the remaining fleeing suspects had since begun, while discreet investigation of the incident is ongoing. For the umpteenth time, the Command is restating its commitment to the safety of lives and property of the people of Kwara State.

"While warning sternly that acts of hooliganism, thuggery, unlawful possession of firearms and other dangerous weapons will be met with superior forces and suspects arrested will be made to face the full wrath of the law, The Command is appealing to the victims of this attack and their sympathizers not to resort to self-help, but to have confidence in the Command to do the needful and ensure that culprits are brought to justice."

On his part, Bashir Bolarinwa, the Kwara APC Chairman, said the attackers outnumbered the policemen on the campaign train, which forced the APC candidate to quickly hide. He said: "The policemen who accompanied our candidate's campaign train tried to repel the attackers, but they were massively overwhelmed. Our candidate, Architect Lola Ashiru, was quickly taken away from the place and he remained in hiding for over two hours before Police reinforcement came to rescue him.

"We are reliably informed that the attack was allegedly coordinated by the PDP candidate for the Kwara South Senatorial District, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, who hails from the same place (Ojoku) where our members and supporters were attacked. "We are also reiterating our earlier call on the security agencies to immediately arrest all known thugs and other criminals across our state so that they will not disrupt Saturday's elections and the subsequent ones."

Adding his voice to the widespread concern over the spate of violence in the state ahead of the governorship polls, Kola Shittu, the chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the PDP, while alleging that the latest attack was part of "the plot by the APC to throw Kwara State into chaos and bloodletting so that INEC can shift elections and later conduct staggered election in the state", called on security agents to up their game.

The PDP boss said it is not true that his party is behind any of the attacks across the state, rather, he claimed the opposition APC is to blame. "It is unfortunate that while the PDP is preparing for the elections, the APC is busy orchestrating plots to unleash violence on our candidates and members in order to achieve its aim of having a staggered election in Kwara," he added.

While commiserating with the families of the dead victims and the entire Ojoku community over the attacks and praying for speedy and full recovery of the injured, Issa-Onilu, the APC spokesman confirmed the worries over rising wave of violence when he stressed that Kwara electorate have had enough of this kind of retrogressive politics and attempt to suppress the will of the people.

On Monday, a group of concerned women in black attires, led by Hajia Sarah Adebayo, stormed the streets of Ilorin to condemn what they called the worrisome spate of election violence across the state. Speaking during the protest at the Government House, Ilorin, Hajia Adebayo called on the security agencies in the state to be alive to their responsibility of protecting lives and property.

"We are showing our displeasure as mothers because our kids and youths are being killed. We have never witnessed this kind of violence in the emirate and the state before, we felt concerned and not happy and that is why we are showing our displeasure about the incident. We value our culture and heritage which is that of peace and harmony," Hajia Adebayo said.