Unidentified hoodlums on Saturday disrupted the Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) event in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The event was organised by the parties to officially mark the defection of LP members in Alimosho into ADC.
The hoodlums, numbering over 100, stormed the first venue of the event at the LP office in Idumu as members, including officials, ran for their lives.
Wielding different kinds of weapons, including knives and canes, they beat everyone they caught while the mayhem lasted. They shouted that the LP and ADC are not welcome in Lagos State.
Some party members sustained varying degrees of injuries. Undeterred by the disruption, officials of the two parties swiftly arranged for an alternative venue at the Eco Centre Event in Egbeda.
Recounting the ordeal, the LP chairman in Alimosho, Olaranwaju Olushola, popularly known as Heritage in Lagos, described the attack on his members as unwarranted.
He expressed fear that most Nigerians might not be free to express themselves in the build-up to the 2027 general elections.
“What is most painful is that most of my members sustained varying degrees of wounds. This is in spite of the hoodlums going into our party secretariat in Alimosho and destroying our furniture and flags,” Mr Olushola said.
The party chairman, however, said the members had already defected en masse, noting that today’s planned event was not an official defection but a ceremony to let Nigerians know they had moved.
He added that almost all members of the LP in Alimosho, including its leadership, had joined the ADC, and that the decision was collective.
Also speaking, the party’s secretary in Alimosho, Moses Akujuobi, along with other members, explained that plans for the open ceremony of their defection were already stopped by the police on grounds that they did not get approval.
He said they had earlier contacted the Area M Commander, ACP Abaniwonda, who said she did not have the power to approve political events in Lagos, adding that only the Commissioner of Police (CP) could.
“Incidentally, we could not reach the CP, but we informed the DSS, after which we went ahead since it wasn’t a rally but a quiet ceremony.
”When we got to the venue this morning, we were shocked to see police vans with heavily armed policemen. They informed us that we cannot hold the event and referred us to the police commissioner.
“While we were at it, the hoodlums besieged the place and began to beat people, leading to our deserting the venue.
”We, however, began to contact our members through phones to move to the second venue, which is the Eco Event centre and everyone witnessed what took place here. The hoodlums got wind of our second venue and equally attacked us, beating up our members again,” Mr Akujuobi explained.
The secretary said their decision to join ADC was informed by leadership issues in the LP and lingering litigations.
Heavily armed policemen in vans came to the second venue shortly after the hoodlums, who came in with several cars, had left.
A policeman who spoke to journalists anonymously said they arrived as soon as they heard what was happening at the Eco Event Centre.
The policeman said that conversations with people around them gave them an idea of what transpired, but they were grateful that no lives were lost and no one was seriously injured.
(NAN)