The Lagos East Senatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Adeola Adebanjo, has been hospitalised after sustaining a broken leg during an attack on party members in Lagos State.
Adebanjo reportedly suffered the injury when an iron pierced his leg as he scrambled for safety during the attack, which occurred on Thursday at a town hall meeting in the Oregun area of Ikeja.
The Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the NDC, Olushile Akinyemi, disclosed this on Friday while speaking on Breakfast Central, a programme aired on News Central Television.
According to Akinyemi, the senatorial candidate is currently receiving medical attention following the incident.
“I should put it on record that our senatorial candidate for Lagos East, Adeola, had his leg broken during the mayhem. He is currently in hospital as I speak,” he said.
Suspected Political Thugs Attack NDC Town Hall Meeting
The attack reportedly occurred when suspected political thugs armed with cutlasses, cudgels and stones invaded the venue of the NDC town hall meeting in Oregun, Ikeja.
The attackers allegedly scattered chairs and disrupted proceedings, forcing participants to flee for safety.
The incident subsequently triggered a confrontation between the suspected hoodlums and some NDC supporters, who reportedly resisted the invasion by throwing chairs at the attackers.
NDC Members Travelling From Ojo Also Attacked
Akinyemi further disclosed that NDC supporters travelling from the Ojo Local Government Area in three party-branded vehicles were attacked by suspected thugs at Opebi before reaching the meeting venue.
He alleged that the attackers damaged the vehicles and carted away personal belongings, including mobile phones belonging to party members.
However, some of the stolen phones were later recovered following the intervention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman in Ikeja Local Government Area.
According to Akinyemi, the APC chairman arrived at the scene in an APC-branded Sienna bus and approached the NDC members to establish what had happened.
He subsequently made efforts to recover the stolen belongings, with some affected party members contacted less than an hour later to collect their phones.
“But the funny thing was that we recovered the phones. The APC chairman in Ikeja Local Government recovered those phones for us,” Akinyemi said.
NDC Accuses APC of Barbaric Politics
Reacting to the incident, the NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, described the attack on party members in Lagos as unfortunate and unwarranted.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Director accused the APC of engaging in what he characterised as barbaric political activities.
He alleged that the ruling party was attempting to undermine Nigeria’s democracy through political intimidation and violence.
“The attacks perpetrated against our members in Lagos State are unfortunate and unwarranted. The hard-earned, ruinous APC is planning to destroy our hard-earned democracy by their desperation and demonic politics of barbarism,” he said.
Lagos APC Condemns Attack, Rejects Allegations
Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the APC condemned the attack on Thursday while distancing the party from allegations linking it to the incident.
The Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo, described the allegations as baseless.
He challenged the NDC to provide credible evidence to security agencies instead of making public allegations against the ruling party.
The incident has renewed concerns over political violence and the safety of political party members during political gatherings in Lagos State.
