Two shot as violence erupts in Ekiti

Two persons were reportedly shot by some thugs as violence erupted between the supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party inIlupeju Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Thursday.It was gathered that some persons sustained injuries during the clash which paralysed activitiesin the town for sometime.A leader of the LP, Mr. Ahmed Salami, who is the media aide for the party’s governorship candidate, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, claimed that political thugshired by the APC shot two members of the party in Ilupeju.Salami said a member of the party, one Tope Adeyemo, from Igogo Ekiti, Moba Local Government Area was wearing a branded MOB’s vest when he was shot by the thugs.He said members of Bamidele’s campaign team and his supporters took refuge at the palace of the Apeju of Ilupeju-Ekiti, Oba Emanuel Oniyelu duringthe attack.But the spokesperson for Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Mr. Dimeji Daniels, said members of the LP unleashed terror on APC members in the town.He said a prominent member of the APC in Ilupeju,identified as Dare, was attacked with machete by LP thugs.He said Dare who was bleeding profusely from thehead following the injury was taken away by the thugs.Daniels said, “It is very unfortunate that Bamidele’s thugs were the ones who attacked our people at Ilupeju. They did the same thing in Ipole Iloro and they were the ones who first rushed to the press.” The claim of the Labour Party is a lie. They have entered into alliance with the PDP to attack members of the APC. They entered into Ilupeju andteemed up with the PDP and attacked our people.“They know that they cannot win so they have resorted into violence to scare people away but they can’t succeed. We are calling on the law enforcement agencies to ensure that Dare who was injured and taken away by the LP is brought back alive.”Meanwhile, the Secretary for the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Dr. Tope Aluko, has said that members of the party will roast any APC member caught rigging during the June 21 governorship election in the state.Aluko said this in a statement he made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti on Thursday to react to the comment made by the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.Aluko said the APC would not go to court to challenge any poll result because judges who wereaiding the party had been sacked.The PDP secretary said, “I want to assure Tinubu that Ekiti people are fully prepared to roast to ashes any APC member whether in Ekiti or thugs imported to rig the poll or cause mayhem. Tinubu should understand that this is Ekiti State and not Lagos and the APC should never think it possess monopoly of violence. This is a stern warning to Tinubu.“At the appropriate time, we will expose the frauds which the APC has done in connection with active support of Ekiti INEC.”Aluko said that the police had been informed and the party would take the matter to Abuja if the police in the state refused to do anything to protectthe party’s flag bearer.He said, “We have always prevailed on our supporters not to retaliate and you know their is limit to everything. The APC want to set the state ablaze, cause pandemonium so as to discredit results of the election. That is their plan and that won’t succeed.”