Twenty youth were hospitalised on Wednesday, following a clash between two factions of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Yagba west local government area of Kogi State.
About 10 vehicles were destroyed during the violence, which involved the use of dangerous weapons such as guns, machetes, and broken bottles.
The incident was the climax of the protracted crises between Samuel Aro, a member of the House of Representatives who is eyeing a second term, and lawmakers opposed to his ambition including Ropo Asala, the chairman of the council, and Rinde Asagun, a special adviser to the state governor.
On Wednesday, the faction opposed to Mr. Aro’s second term bid, decided to hold a procession rally in response to a similar rally he held two days earlier. According to one witness, the procession began peacefully. The supporters sang, danced, and displayed posters of Smart Adeyemi and Folorunsho Daniyan, Mr. Aro’s main opponents in the race for the House of Representatives.
Eyewitnesses said trouble started when a motorcade conveying supporters was ambushed in Odo-Eri, Mr. Aro’s hometown, along the Kabba-Ilorin Road. The 35 cars were returning from Egbe, another town in the council area.
The attackers began by smashing car windscreens and windows after which they descended on the occupants using machetes, cutlasses, and other dangerous weapons, said one witness.
“We were completely taken unawares and we were unprepared because our leaders had told us to go about the rally peacefully,” one of the victims said. “It would have been bloody if we prepared for them,” he said.
Confirming the incident, state police commissioner, Abdullahi Magaji, said the command would arrest, detain, and prosecute the perpetrators of the violence, no matter how highly-placed in the society.
“The thugs who were recruited to carry out this violence will be treated as armed robbers,” he said.
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