Hoodlums on Thursday attacked the
campaign convoy of the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi
Agbaje at Iba in Ojo, west of Lagos.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
political correspondent reports that the convoy had just left the palace of the
Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni, when it came under ferocious attacked.
The PDP governorship hopeful had
gone to the monarch to inform him of his plan to hold his campaign rally in the
area later in the day before the incident.
As the convoy was driving out,
hoodlums, numbering about 40, chased and threw stones at Agbaje’s vehicles.
Some of the hoodlums, clutching
daggers and machetes, rode on motorcycles to keep pace with the speed of the
convoy, throwing pebbles continually at the convoy.
The rear windscreen of a bus
conveying some party members was shattered.
Some occupants of the bus
sustained minor injuries caused by the shattered glass.
The hoodlums continued to advance
towards the convoy for further attacks, before security details in the convoy
engaged them, firing tear gas at them.
They later beat a hurried retreat
when the convoy managed to escape.
However, Agbaje and people in
other vehicles did not sustain injuries.
Speaking earlier at the Oniba’s
palace, Agbaje said he did not believe that politics should be a do-or-die
affair.
The governorship hopeful said
that he had always been an advocate of peaceful politics because he believed
that power should not be sought through violence.
He said it was in demonstration
of that belief that he came down from his vehicle to greet some APC members
when he sighted them on his way to the palace.
“I don’t believe in do-or-die
politics. I have always believed in peaceful politics and that is what I
practice.
“Why should people kill
themselves because of politics? It should not be, politics should be a platform
to serve and not to cause destruction.
“On my way to the palace today, I
saw some APC supporters in their party vests and I came down from the vehicle
to greet them.
“They looked at my face in
disbelief at first. We later embraced each another and exchanged friendly
words. That should be the spirit.”
Agbaje told the monarch that he
was in the palace to pay homage and seek the royal father’s blessing for his
planned rally in the area as that was the right thing to do.
He sought the prayers and
blessings of the monarch on his ambition to govern Lagos.
Oseni said that he was glad to
receive Agbaje and his supporters to his palace, noting that as a traditional
ruler, he was father to all and was expected to be politically neutral.
The monarch said that it was in
that light that he would always welcome everybody to his palace, irrespective
of their political affiliations.
He warned against do-or-die
politics because according to him, it threatens peace and democracy.
The monarch said that those who
practiced do-or-die politics did not understand the real meaning of politics.
“Politics should not be about
violence. That is why I always preach and warn against it.
“Those who perpetrate violence in
the name of politics do not understand the essence of politics because politics
is about service and not killings.
“As a traditional ruler, I am
father to all politicians and I will welcome everybody. So I welcome you to the
palace and I wish you all the best.”
Oseni, however, advised parents
to warn their wards to abstain from violence before, during and after the
elections in their own interest.
He urged youths not to allow
politicians to destroy their lives by asking them to take to violence.
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