By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti

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As soon as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave the go-ahead to political parties to commence their campaigns, on March 22, 2022,  efforts were made by the security agencies in the State  to maintain peace, decorum and violence free campaigns.

A strategy was mapped out by the security operatives operating in the State to ensure violence free campaign, as political parties  contesting for the election including their supporters were invited to a round table peace talk where peace accord agreement was signed.

As the campaigns progress, political parties in the State  has since embarked on attacks on opponents, both on social media and physical attack.

Though, some political pundits in the State argued that accusation and attack are parts of campaign strategies in any democratic elections,  especially in political history of Ekiti State.

For example, whenever elections draw near in the State, the appeal in all quarters has always been the need for peace and decorum among all party members, candidates and supporters.

An instance was during the July 31, 2021 All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congress, a young man said to be a member of APC was killed during the  ensuing violence that broke out in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of the state.

Similarly, during the March 20, 2021 Ekiti East Constituency I bye-election, the election meant to fill the vacant seat in the state House of Assembly after the death of a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, three persons including a serving police officer were shot dead in the election day violence, while many others sustained injuries.

Consequently, in the buildup leading to the 2022 governorship election, it is expected in many quarters that the message of peace has been accepted by all  as the consultations which led to the January 2022 primaries were largely peaceful across the parties in the state.

Even the protests that greeted the conduct of the governorship primaries of the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which led to defections in some cases were violence-free.

However, the campaign convoy of the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Segun Oni, was recently attacked by suspected political thugs at Efon-Alaaye in the Efon Local Government Area of the state.

Hell was let loose in the hilly community as armed political thugs unleashed terror on the convoy and the campaign venue where the SDP members and Oni’s supporters gathered for the consultation which the party candidate had already undertaken in nine local government areas.

Several members of the SDP were said to have sustained injuries, an officer of the Nigeria Civil Defense and Security Corps (NSCDC) was not spared by the political thugs  as they attempted to snatch his gun. He was said to have been wounded but refused to surrender his gun to suspected political thugs.

According to the Media Director, Segun Oni Campaign Organisation (SOCO), Jackson Adebayo, “Some (SDP) supporters were badly injured and vehicles in the convoy were damaged by thugs before the arrival of a detachment of police which overpowered the thugs”

Similarly, the Director General, SOCO, Ambassador Dare Bejide, claimed that several armed political thugs sponsored by the ruling APC attacked the convoy of the SDP governorship candidate on his way to hold a Town Hall meeting in Efon Local Government and caused serious physiological and bodily injuries to members of the entourage.

Bejide, in a statement titled, “Report of attack on Oni’s entourage by the APC thugs”, said, “It is instructive to note that the campaign organisation formally wrote and obtained approval from the police in respect of the meeting and requested to be protected and yet, some hoodlums went ahead to carry out unprovoked attacks.”

Following the attack, Oni petitioned the Inspector-general of Police, Director-General of Department of State Service and the Commandant-General of the NSCDC seeking a probe of the attack on his campaign train.

But the APC, which denied involvement in the violence, laid the attack on the doorsteps on the PDP and the SDP, urging members of the two opposition parties “to desist from acts of gangsterism and bloodletting as they commence their campaigns towards the June 18 election.”

The APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, in a statement titled, “Don’t return Ekiti to bloodletting era, the  APC cautions  SDP, PDP”, bemoaned what he called “unwarranted bloodletting” at Efon, wondering why such mayhem should be unleashed on the innocent people the two opposition parties were aspiring to govern.

Dipe, who described the development as “unfortunate, unprovoked and avoidable”, saying no one’s ambition should be laced with such bloodletting, said, “Such act of intimidation is highly condemned by us and should be discouraged in totality by all and sundry.

“The APC candidate is from the Aramoko axis (precisely Ikogosi) and Oni’s campaign had stopped to campaign there without any harassment from the people. Oni and his SDP campaigned in Oye where Governor Kayode Fayemi hails from without being embarrassed.

“Their (SDP) campaign train moved freely and peacefully in Ikole and Omuo, two of the strongholds of the APC, and no one thought of attacking their convoy. They were also in Ilejemeje and Moba without being debarred.

Reacting, the PDP spokesperson in Ekiti State, Mr Raphael Adeyanju, said “every citizen of Ekiti State knows the difference between the peace loving PDP and the APC. The people know which party is allergic to free, fair and peaceful democratic practices.

“The APC has deliberately resorted to this act of intimidation because the SDP is a very weak party which cannot win any election, but is capable of playing a spoiler. They deliberately  orchestrated this attack in Efon Alaaye, the hometown of our candidate, Otunba Kolawole, to create the false impression that the attack was carried out by the PDP supporters,” he said.

Adeyanju, who derided the APC spokesman said, “ The APC has no conscience for reminding Ekiti people of the party’s atrocities during the the 2009 rerun election.

Since the attack took place in the hometown of the PDP governorship candidate, it has, however, raised fears in some quarters, that there might be reprisals on the campaign trains of other candidates in the bases of the flagbearers of other parties.

On his part, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, who said the police were able to contain the situation, said investigations were ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book and ensure there was no repeat in the course of the campaigns and election.

The State Commandant, NSCDC, Mr John Fayemi, who frowned on the violence, describing it as unfortunate, assured that the corps and other security agencies “are ready to tackle it headlong to prevent such occurrence as the campaigns takes off. We are going to tackle it frontally and prevent such.”