Thugs attack ex-chairmanship aspirant at Lagos APC primaries

The Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primaries ran into murky waters yesterday as a former chairmanship aspirant in Kosofe Local Council, Ibrahim Mustapha, narrowly escaped death when suspected political thugs attacked him at Anthony Village.

He is currently on admission at a private hospital in Lagos.

Political thugs suspected to be supporters of a Special Adviser to the Governor and a member of the state House of Assembly, allegedly attacked Mustapha with cutlasses, inflicting severe injuries on him.

Eyewitnesses told journalists that the assailants, numbering about five, swooped on him and allegedly inflicted deep machete cuts on his head and other parts of his body, while some of his supporters who were with him on the scene of the incident also sustained various degrees of injuries.

It was gathered that the attack on Mustapha occurred at Adebayo Mokuolu Street, Anthony Village, in Kosofe Local Council of the state.

The Guardian learnt that Mustapha, who was a former councilor in the council was initially rushed to two nearby hospitals, but was rejected on account of degree of cuts before he was admitted at another hospital.

However, the thugs, led by one Akeem Oshijinrin and Dayo Lawal, were allegedly shielded by the Commander of Area ‘H’ Police Command, Ogudu and his men at the scene of the incident.

Meanwhile, Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, yesterday ordered immediate probe into alleged killings and destruction of property by two factions of the APC during its primaries.

Umahi expressed shock over the heavy shootings at Onueke, headquarters of Ezza South Local Council during the party’s primaries in which one person was confirmed dead, while several others, including a policeman, were severely injured.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, the governor ordered security agencies to investigate the killings and bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to book, warning the party against instigating crisis in the peaceful state.

Governor Umahi maintained that nobody’s ambition was worth the blood of any Ebonyi citizen.

The governor who received the news of the heavy shootings in Onueke venue of APC Ebonyi Central senatorial primaries, while he was in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, warned all APC political actors to play by the rules and eschew politics of destruction and bitterness.