Mayhem in Ekiti as Thugs Shoot 6 SDP Members at Segun Oni’s Rally

All hell was let loose on Saturday in Ekiti State as some thugs, alleged to be members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and wearing the All Progressives Congress (APC) vest, stormed campaign rallies of the Social Democratic Party and caused mayhem.

An eye witness account said the suspected thugs, loaded in five buses reportedly belonging to the APC, stormed SDP campaign rallies at Itaji Ekiti and Oye Ekiti, both in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, shooting sporadically.

In a press statement issued by Mr Jackson Adebayo, the Director of Media and Publicity of Segun Oni Campaign Organisation (SOCO), and made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the capital, on Saturday, stated that the thugs, allegedly sent by Mr Rotimi Olanbiwoninu a-k-a Mentilo, the Ekiti State Chairman of RTEAN, began to shoot as the SDP governorship candidate, Asiwaju Segun Oni, was addressing SDP members and supporters at Itaji town.

According to Adebayo, three SDP members were shot and terribly wounded in Itaji but luck ran out for one of the RTEAN thugs who missed the bus and was arrested by party supporters who handed him over to the police.

 The SOCO spokesman said that it took the mobile police personnel  and some soldiers on patrol about 30 minutes to bring the situation under control.

The unlucky thug confessed that they were sent by Mentilo and that he (Mentilo) was working for the Biodun Oyebamiji Campaign Organisation.

At Oye, Adebayo further stated, the RTEAN drivers allegedly shot three members of the SDP who were waiting for the arrival of Oni who was due to address party supporters in the town. He said the thugs entered their buses and fled on seeing the mobile policemen that were following the campaign convoy of the SDP, as well as the soldiers that were on patrol.

Notwithstanding the hullabaloo at Itaji and Oye, the people trooped out en-masse to welcome Oni, promising to vote for him, adding that the APC thugs cannot intimidate or prevent them from exercising their franchise on the election day.

The SDP candidate was told to go and sleep as nothing can change their support and love for him.

The injured SDP members have been taken to the hospital while the matter was reported to the Commissioner of Police.