There was palpable tension in Ile-Ife on Monday evening when suspected supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, attacked some loyalists of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the Akogun area of Okerewe Ward II, in Ife-East Local Government Area.
According to an eyewitness, Olawale Omoniyi, members of the PDP were having their political rally along Itakogun, where the incident occurred.
He said a woman who is a party member allegedly pointed at some APC supporters who were seated at a particular place in the area known to be their flash point and were attacked.
He said a woman identified as Mrs Bola was the first to destroy APC banners in the area, which led to the altercation.
A victim of the attack, Mr Salam Mustapha, said, “I was playing at the Tamac since morning when I just heard information that members of the PDP had vowed to attack whoever wore a cap bearing the APC logo henceforth. I then put off my hat and kept it somewhere.
“Around 5:00 pm, the PDP members were holding a rally along Omisore area in Ile-Ife, and I was about to leave my mother’s shop when I heard them shouting APC thief among other imprinted names. I was going peacefully together with another person.
“I could discover that a woman allegedly destroyed Mr Adejobi Adeyinka (ESOH), the APC House of Assembly candidate’s billboards in Okerewe junction. Some boys had their carnival yesterday, and they were having their get-together today, and the place is known as APC ‘Tamac”.
He added: “these people went to them to ask them politely to stop destroying the banners, and that was how the altercation started. The PDP members immediately went to invite some suspected cult members who brought dangerous weapons and started attacking people in the area.
“Many people sustained various degrees of injury. I was wounded in the hands. They later proceeded to the APC party secretariats in Ife Central and East, destroying properties in the secretariats. I even heard that one Hausa man who wore an APC cap was beaten to a comma”, Mustapha stated.
A member of the PDP, who preferred anonymity while reacting to the incident, said the attack was caused by members of the APC who allegedly attacked an innocent woman identified as Mrs Bola when members of the party were holding a peaceful rally along Omisore, Itakogun area where the incident occurred.
He said members of APC were the ones who first attacked members of the PDP in the area. He described the attack as barbaric and senseless, which should be condemned by all right-thinking men. He called on law enforcement agencies to investigate the attack and make perpetrators face the law.