Aregbesola, Ekiti Ex-deputy Gov Condemn Attack On ADC Secretariat, Members
A former Minister of Interior and National Secretary, African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, and former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Prof Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, on Tuesday condemned the attack on the party secretariat and members in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State.
ADC members and residents woke up on Tuesday to see the party secretariat razed with several valuables, including plastic chairs, canopies, sound system and office equipment destroyed.
Hours later in the morning, some hoodlums regrouped in large numbers and stormed the secretariat, venue of the party’s planned affirmation ceremony, disrupted preparations and attacked party leaders and supporters.
The hoodlums vandalised vehicles and motorcycles, while canopies and chairs arranged for the programme were destroyed.
Aregbesola, who arrived at the venue for the event some minutes after the hoodlums had left, in a chat with journalists, condemned the attack, describing it as a shameful display of intolerance and a dangerous threat to democracy.
Aregbesola said, “It is regrettable that individuals who emerged through the democratic process can resort to violence and intimidation to suppress opposition voices.
“The beauty of democracy lies in the freedom of association and participation in open political activities without fear or intimidation. The attack on ADC members in Ekiti signals descent into fascism.”
Aregbesola also berated the security agencies for failing to protect the ADC secretariat and its members, saying, “The security agencies must protect lives and property and when they fail to do so, they are violating the constitution”.
Former Ekiti State Deputy Governor and ADC chieftain, Olusola-Eleka, also condemned the incident, describing it as an act of political terrorism.
He said, “What has happened today (Tuesday) in Ekiti State is what we call political terrorism, and it is quite unfortunate that this is happening in our state. This is against the principle of democracy that we are all preaching.
“We have made reports to the police through the state party chairman and let me say that we are let down by the security agencies because more than two hours after we made reports on the midnight attack on our secretariat, we observed that they were not there to protect the property and the people.”
The ADC State Chairman, Ilesanmi Omolayo, who said the matter had been reported to the police, expressed surprise at the attack without provocation, saying, “We only wanted to affirm our executives at the various levels.
“Apart from the midnight attack whereby they razed our secretariat, they carried out two different attacks on this place. Some people were injured and received treatment in hospitals; they vandalised vehicles and motorcycles.
“They wanted to intimidate us. They are worried by the growing popularity and spread of our party within a short time, hence their actions to stop us and campaigns have not yet started. Our aspirants have not even obtained forms. The security agencies have a lot to do for our safety.:
Also speaking, a former High Commissioner to Canada and ADC governorship aspirant, Dare Bejide, described the incident as barbaric, saying, “Those who disrupted the programme are enemies of democracy. Politics is about choice and not fostering a candidate among the masses.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Police Command, SP Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident, saying, “The command is aware of the incident. The commissioner of Police, Joseph Eribo, has directed full-scale investigation in a bid to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to book”.