Thugs attack APC members in Cross River as party chieftain declares for governor
- Suspected thugs reportedly attacked a gathering of the All Progressives Congress in Obudu, Cross River state
- The thugs were said to have disrupted the gathering where a stalwart of the party was billed to declare his governorship ambition
- Among those reportedly wounded was the chairman of APC in Abi local government area, Romanus Egbonyi
A gathering of the All Progressives Congress in Obudu, Cross River state, where a stalwart of the party, Venatius Ikem, was expected to announce his intention to run for the governorship of the state in 2019, was reportedly attacked and disrupted by suspected thugs.
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The APC secretariat which was the venue of the gathering, was vandalised by the thugs that were said to be loyalists of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Premium Times reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that they destroyed the party’s billboards, canopies, chairs, and public address system. It was learnt that the thugs chased the APC supporters out of the venue. The incident was said to have happened around 12 pm on Friday, February 2.
According to Ikem, the thugs came back a second time when the APC leaders and the party’s supporters went back to continue with the event.
He said: “Immediately we got there again and entered the secretariat and started chanting the party slogan so that we could start the programme, they came back. Apparently, they were monitoring us. They started attacking us again.
“They broke all the glasses and everything they could see in the party secretariat. They beat up people. Several people were taken to hospital.”
The APC stalwart said that his governorship ambition was eventually declared at a private residence around the area.
He added: “We can identify those who led the attack. They were not masked, they are our town’s boys. Many of them are appointees of the governor. We have their names. In fact, we have a video of what happened.”
APC chairman in Obudu corroborated Ikem's claims, adding that he had advised the party supporters not to attack back in order to avoid the escalation of violence.
It was reported that the chairman of APC in Abi local government area, Romanus Egbonyi, was among those wounded in the attack.
Egbonyi condemned the attack as being unfair to the APC which he said has been law-abiding in the state.
He said: “I want to say that this will not deter us at all. We all came here to witness the formal declaration of Barr Venatius Ikem and got attacked as you all have witnessed.
“If the powers that be in the state are confident of themselves, why do they have to descend so low to attack us in our own premises?”
The divisional police officer in Obudu confirmed the attack.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Chief Joseph Alake, a political leader of the All Progressives Congress in Efon-Alaaye, Ekiti state, was attacked by some political thugs.
According to Alake who disclosed this at the political stakeholders meeting organised by law enforcement agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ado-Ekiti, the thugs stormed his residence at about 11 am.
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Source: Naija.ng