LAGOS – Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the attack on his supporters in Lagos during the mega rally held on Saturday, February 11, 2023.
In a Tweet on his official Twitter account, Obi said that the incident premeditated or not, was deeply troubling and vehemently condemned.
He said “the new Nigeria that we seek is one founded on peace and justice, and respect for the rule of law.”
Obi called on the Lagos State security agencies to fish out those responsible for the attacks.
“We cannot continue to tolerate attacks on members of the opposition party, often fuelled by the incendiary rhetorics of political leaders,” he said.
The police spokesperson in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, had confirmed the attack earlier via his Twitter handle.
“Jakande Ward Chairman of Labour Party commendably reported an attack on his party members at Ilasan Division. Four injured persons have been given medical attention. Ilasan has commenced preliminary investigations, while SCID is to fully take over investigations,” he said.
However, the state APC denied involvement in the attack on LP motorcade and called on the security agencies to wade in.
The spokesperson for the APC, Seye Oladejo, in a chat with Daily Trust said the allegation that the APC was responsible for the attack was not substantiated.
According to him, the APC’s position has always been for the security agencies to do their job and bring those found culpable in any attack to book.
“We have always called on the security agencies to bring the culprits to book,” he said, adding that those who alleged “must be able to provide evidence and point at suspects and I am sure the police know what to do.”
“We abhor violence as a party. Everybody has the constitutional right to support whichever party they choose that catches their fancy and I don’t think that should be involved in any kind of violence.”
Oladejo noted that the APC doesn’t see Labour Party as a rival that poses any threat to its dominance.
Asked if Labour Party is a threat to APC, he retorted: “Definitely far from it. Maybe they are are competing with other parties, they are very far from us. They are not competing against the ruling party and with the performance of my governor and other people we put in place in the past four years, we have no reason to express concern at whatever level.”
