The rally organised by the Lagos Chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to welcome the 2023 Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the governorship flagbearer, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, to the party has been disrupted by hoodlums in Alimosho Local Governments Area of the state.
Aside from the rally being designed to welcome both guests, it was also an avenue thr party had picked to sensitize residents on importance of obtaining their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and encourage members to mobilize young Lagosians to register during the exercise in preparation for the 2027 general election in the state.
It was learnt that the rally was halted minutes before kick-off on Saturday after the hoodlums, who were alleged to be supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), attacked members of the opposition party at the venue, Lion Field, and inflicting varying degrees of injuries on them.
Eyewitness narrated that policemen attached to the Lagos Police Command, who were deployed to ensure protection of life and property at the venue, were said to have looked away as the hoodlums rain terror on the opposition party members at the venue.
It was learnt that journalists and members of the ADC that tried to record the incident were barred and those who tried to defy the law enforcement agency were said to have been made to handover their phones.
In the videos obtained by The Guild, the ADC members were seen disturbed and could not understand why the scores of law enforcement officers seen along the road to the venue and around the premises could not provided the desired services.
They alleged that the ruling party, APC, was using the state apparatus to intimidate them despite all efforts to be civil in their actions before and at the event venue.
Reacting to the attack, the chairman of Lagos ADC, George Ashiru, described the action as unfortunate considering that the act occurred before the law enforcement officers deployed by the Commissioner ot Police, Oludare Jimoh.
Ashiru noted that the party has been adhering to the law and order which was the reason it notified the agency and await the approval.
He said: “The government and its supporters in Alimosho have send a clear message to the people that they were not voted into office by the electorate rather they came into office through their own personal efforts. This is because if they believe that the people voted for them, they will not treat the people in this manner.
“The impunity is to much. We understand that you sealed the venue earlier picked by the party and the other location that was considered again, the hoodlums attacked the party members.
“The sealed venue was later opened by the police for the APC event. This is unnecessary and doesn’t indicate that we are practising democracy in the country.
“This is undemocratic and we will inform the world on what the Federal and Lagos State Government as well as the police are doing to the opposition voices.
“The allegations that the national secretary of the party and Osun State former governor, Rauf Aregbesola, deployed thugs to attack the APC is untrue and it is another strategy to cover their tracks. I don’t understand how you will accuse someone that is not event in the state.
“The issue is that the instrument of government were deployed against us. All that happened there today was planned by the state government because the number of policemen around that axis today required that one should sleep with his eyes closed. But rather than protect the people, they permitted the hoodlums to attack us. This is not a spontaneous action but a planned attack which the police allowed to fester”.
