Hoodlums suspected to be political thugs have attacked the oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde during campaign rally in Igangan area of the state.
Moses Alao, Makinde’s media aide, made this known in a statement issued to Journalists on Wednesday.
He described the attacks as unwarranted, warning the opposition elements to eschew politics of bitterness and violence ahead of the general elections.
“The attacks were premeditated and orchestrated by some opposition elements, who hired street urchins to waylay the convoy of the governor,” Mr Alao said.
He alleged that the thugs carried out the attack to put the governor in a bad light among the state’s residents.
“The unprovoked attacks were reprehensible, especially as the people of the state already know Makinde as a man of peace,” he said.
Mr Alao, however, decried the reports by the All Progressives Congress (APC) alleging that men of the Parks Management System triggered the crisis.
He said the governor had finished addressing the mammoth crowd at the Igangan Town Hall, and the campaign trail was heading for Tapa when the attack occurred.
According to Mr Alao, the governor, who distributed souvenirs to crowds, stood in an open-roof SUV while other members of the entourage were in his tow.
“Toward the exit of the town was a roadblock, which we now know was mounted by the thugs to halt the flow of traffic so that they would be able to perpetrate their dastardly act.”
He said the thugs who demanded money instead of the souvenirs smashed vehicles with sticks and stones.
“Before anyone could say Jack Robinson, they started hauling stones, while some went in search of big sticks with which they were smashing vehicles indiscriminately.
“The urchins went directly after the SUV of Chief Tegbe, which showed a clearly premeditated motive, while others kept attacking other vehicles coming behind the governor,” he said.
Making further clarifications, Mr Alao said the JAC Bus conveying media aides of the governor, journalists and many other vehicles were damaged by the hoodlums.
“At some points, the hoodlums graduated from hauling stones by bringing out guns and shooting at vehicles in convoy,” he added.
