The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Teslim Folarin has reportedly escaped an assassination attempt in Ibadan, the state capital.
According to The Punch, Folarin’s special adviser on media and publicity, Yekeen Olaniyi made this known in a telephone conversation on Friday, March 17, 2023.
He said a group of masked gunmen invaded his principal’s ancestral home at Oja’gbo area in the Ibadan North-East Local Government area of the state around 8 pm in search of Folarin who had a scheduled meeting with his family members.
Olaniyi said, “Oga escaped an assassination attempt on his life this evening. He had a scheduled meeting with his family members at Oja’gbo. As you are aware, he is the one representing his family at the Olubadan line as Asaju Olubadan. So, he was supposed to hold the meeting between 6:30 and 7pm but because he was on air at a radio station, he couldn’t meet up at that time.
“He didn’t leave the radio station until around 8:40 pm. So, the gunmen invaded the area around 8pm thinking that he was there and started shooting sporadically and wounded many people.”
Olaniyi, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, through the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, and other security agencies to beef up security around his boss.
Meanwhile, the convoy of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Dauda Lawal in Zamfara state, was reportedly attacked by the state-backed anti-thuggery squad.
Lawal’s convoy was attacked in the Sani Abacha Way of GRA in the Gusau Local Government Area of the state.
In a press statement in Gusau on Thursday, the Dauda Lawal Media Office alleged that the attack was unprovoked and was an attempt to assassinate the PDP governorship candidate, Dauda Lawal.
The anti-thuggery committee was said to have ambushed the convoy and opened fire on the campaign vehicles in Lawal’s convoy during the attack on Thursday night, injuring a police escort.
The DL Media Office noted that this was the second time within a month that the anti-thuggery committee had allegedly made attempts on the life of the Zamfara State PDP Governorship Candidate.
Lawal, together with some party members and supporters, had a last-minute campaign rally in magami, and wanke areas of the state before the attack.
The statement read in parts: “The Zamfara State government is hell-bent and desperate to cause chaos in a few days to the governorship polls across the country.
“This clandestine move by the APC government is a clear sign that the odds are not in their favor, a reason why they resorted to the use of the illegally formed anti-thuggery committee to assassinate the PDP candidate.
“The convoy of the Zamfara State PDP Governorship candidate, Dauda Lawal on Thursday, March 16, 2023, came under heavy attack from armed men of the illegal anti-thuggery committee on the Sani Abacha Way of the GRA in Gusau Local Government Area of the state.
“Dauda Lawal had gone to some areas for a last-minute campaign and on his way back home, the uniformed anti-thuggery launched a heavy attack on him, spraying his car and backup vehicles with bullets.
“This is the second time within a month that the anti-thuggery assassins have made attempts on the life of the PDP Candidate.
“The anti-thuggery committee had on the 23rd February, 2023 fired gunshots at Lawal’s convoy which had his wife on board.
“The anti-thuggery is operating illegally in Zamfara State, because there is an existing court order restraining the committee from harassing, intimidating, brutalizing, terrorizing, arresting, detaining, and any form of torture of members of the opposition parties.”
“Although no life was lost in the recent onslaught by the illegal anti-thuggery committee, one of the security men attached to the PDP governorship candidate sustained injuries.
“We call on the relevant security agencies to be vigilant, especially these few days that the election is fast approaching.”
