"They shot into one of our branded cars through the windscreen, but the courageous people in the area gave them a hot chase. Immediately, they fled the area and starting shooting in the air to scare people away.”
Masked hoodlums have attacked the campaign train of Ebenezer Adeniyan, a candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), contesting the House of Assembly election in Ondo State.
Adeniyan's campaign train was attacked on Friday at Oke Aro area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, during a tour of some wards in the town.
The SDP candidate, who is also the publisher of Trace News Magazine, is contesting to represent Akure South Constituency II at the Ondo State House of Assembly.
It was gathered that the suspected hoodlums damaged some vehicles in the campaign train and also shot sporadically to disrupt the activities lined up for the campaign.
A member of the Adeniyan Campaign Organisation confirmed the attack to SaharaReporters via a telephone chat on Saturday. He told one of our correspondents that the suspected hoodlums were armed with dangerous weapons, including guns and machetes.
"We were on the tour of two wards in the constituency area. And at the end of the tour, we went to Oke Aro to meet a political friend. Unfortunately, on our way back, we made a brief stop at the Abiodun junction to greet some community leaders. However, as we were about to take our leave, three masked men came running towards us from the street, and smashed the windscreen of our music truck.
"They shot into one of our branded cars through the windscreen, but the courageous people in the area gave them a hot chase. Immediately, they fled the area and starting shooting in the air to scare people away and ran back in same direction they came from.”
Speaking on the attack, Adeniyan expressed shock and grief at the damage done to his campaign vehicles by the hoodlums.
According to him, the latest attack on his campaign trains was carried out by members of opposition who are already threatened by his rising popularity in the constituents. He, however, stated that the attack has been reported at the B Division Station of the Ondo State Police Command in Akure.
"I was shocked, to say the least, and there have been lots of attacks on my campaign train for weeks since we started this electioneering process. Our banners are stolen every day and posters torn everywhere in Akure metropolis.
"However, I thank God that no member of my team was injured and I hope the Police in Ondo State will investigate this attack and also get to the root of the matter.”