The suspected political thugs being taken to Olokuta Prisons
By Shefiu Adeyemo
An Akure Magistrate Court on Tuesday remanded for one month, seven suspected political thugs who allegedly attacked the campaign train of All Progressives Congress, APC candidate in the October 10 governorship election and Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on September 19 at Ifon in Ose Local Government Area of the state.
The defendants including Stephen Odalumen, Adesina Tope, Rotimi Johnbull, Sylvester Emmanuel, Adenegan Ifatunde, Adeleke Sunday and Wilson Isaac were arraigned by the Department of Public Prosecution, DPP.
They were remanded following the display of exhibits including guns, charms and some other dangerous weapons.
Magistrate N. T Aladejana ruled that after investigation and cross examination, that the defendants, all males, “on the 19th day of September, 2020 at about 2:30 p. m at Ikano Road, Ifon in the Ifon Magisterial District, Ondo state did have in your possession, without a licence, a firearm to wit; one (1) locally made single barrel gun, one (1) locally made double barrel gun and live cartridges and thereby committed a felony contrary to and punishable under Section 3 (1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Vol. 14 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
The suspects being taken to Olokuta Prisons
He ruled that the suspects should be remanded at Olokuta Prisons after which he adjourned the case till October 22, 2020.
Lawyer to the defendants, Mr. Saliu did not oppose the remand, but he pleaded for short adjournment date.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who was represented by A. A. Akinbosade, told reporters outside the court that the governor was doing his best to ensure that political thuggery is a thing of the past in the state.
He also counseled that politics should not be seen as war and nobody should see it as one.
Exhibits
The suspects were arrested on Sunday in a Toyota Sienna vehicle, branded with the logo of a leading governorship candidate and his picture.
Police spokesman, Tee- Leo Ikoro, said that the suspects were arrested by police with locally-made guns at Ifon, Ose Local Government Area of the state.
He had said on Monday that: “Some hoodlums were truly arrested with locally made weapons at Ifon in a branded vehicle with the name of PDP. We have started our investigation.
“Hopefully, at the end of that, we will be able to tell if they are truly agents of the PDP or not.”
The incident had led to hot verbal exchanges and counter accusations between the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which is fielding Akeredolu in the October 10 governorship election and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
While reacting to the arrest, the Eyitayo Jegede Campaign Organisation, EJCO, described the development as an attempt to implicate the opposition ahead of the election.
EJCO’s Director General, Gbenga Akinmoyo, in a statement on Sunday, said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has moved their “assassination attempt on the PDP governorship candidate to the next scene of the unfolding drama.
“The information of the arrest of some hoodlums in the PDP branded vehicles at Ifon in Ose LG, whilst our campaign train is due to make a stop in the town, that is presently circulating on social media, is nothing but an attempt by the APC to make good its evil plans.
“While thanking the security agencies for their vigilance in averting a needless mayhem, we urge the public to remain focused and not fall for the antics of the ruling APC, who are determined to draw us into unproductive arguments that can distract us from the issues that border on the welfare of our people and failure of the APC government in addressing them.”
On its own, the Akeredolu/Ayedatiwa Campaign Organisation, called on the police not to handle investigation into the matter with levity.
Its spokesman, Olabode Olatunde, in a statement said: “While we commend the police authority for its gallantry efforts at arresting these hoodlums, we condemn this act in strong terms and call for more investigation into the PDP campaign activities.
“This is coming despite several appeals for politicians to allow peace reign before, during and after the governorship election, making one to ask if the PDP and thuggery are Siamese twins.”
