EYITAYO JEGEDE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION
PRESS RELEASE
ATTACK ON THE PDP CAMPAIGN TEAM IN IPELE, OWO
We use this opportunity to inform the general public that the APC-led government of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu has continued its pursuit of promoting violence in this election.
Our campaign team was yet again attacked by members of the APC in Ipele who had blocked access to the palace of the king and the maternal home of the PDP candidate in a bid to deny him access to both places earlier scheduled to be visited by Mr. Eyitayo Jegede SAN.
Prior to our entry into Ipele, touts and miscreants under the APC had unleashed terror on our members with several casualties. These miscreants were dispersed by a joint team of police and NSCDC officers.
The DPO of Ipele is alleged to have not only supervised the assault but also arrested six members of the PDP including the youth leader whose hands had been broken by the attackers and beaten to a coma.
We would like to warn the APC and its outgoing government to know very clearly that no single individual has the monopoly of violence. While we are very cautious about the broad implication of promoting violence in this election, we however would not be intimated in our pursuit of victory in at the polls.
For the records, the Divisional Police Officer in Ipele Police Station is hereby reported to the police authorities for gross negligence of his duties to protect the people and collusion with the APC to harass and intimidate our members. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of our members who were arrested and are being detained on the orders of the DPO and may be charged by the police on trumped up charges.
We also call on the police authorities to warn its officers to abide by the rules and not to serve as agents of provocation in the hands of this government.
PRESS STATEMENT
The convoy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) was today attacked in Ipele and Owo township in Owo Local Government by heavily armed APC political thugs.
A PDP member by name, Hon. Amuda Sikiru, was shot in the face and abdomen during our campaign rally in Owo town by the APC thugs. The victim who is still lying unconscious was rushed to the state’s specialist hospital in Akure in the Ambulance attached to the candidate’s convoy.
Also wounded by the APC thugs’ bullet attacks were Messes Taye Akintufede and Seun Ogunlade. They have also been rushed to the hospital.
Besides, some of our campaign vehicles were damaged, as was witnessed in Oba-Akoko community recently.
One of the convoy’s campaign trucks was completely burnt down.
Earlier in the day, the same APC armed hoodlums had blocked the entry point to Ipele community, Jegede’s maternal home, and attempted to turn back the campaign team.
This spate of attacks on our members by the ruling party in the state is threatening the peace of the state, and is apparently intended to cause violence ahead of the October 10 governorship election.
We are calling on the Inspector-General of Police, the human rights community, and other international bodies to come to our rescue in Ondo State.
We want a free and fair election, but the party in power does not.
-Samuel Fasua,
Eyitayo Jegede Campaign Organisation
29th Sept. 2020.