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Ogboru/Omo-Agege Faction Attacks Delta Delegates In Free-For-All At APC Convention

SaharaReporters gathered that before their arrival at the Eagle Square, venue of the convention, some hired thugs said to be working for Omo-Agege had attacked and smashed the Marcopolo bus conveying the Delta State delegates from their hotels to the venue.

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There was a free-for-all by Delta State delegates at the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Saturday, following an attack by suspected hired thugs working for the Great Ogboru and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege faction of the party, led by Jone Erue, former Chairman of the party in the state.

SaharaReporters gathered that before their arrival at the Eagle Square, venue of the convention, some hired thugs said to be working for Omo-Agege had attacked and smashed the Marcopolo bus conveying the Delta State delegates from their hotels to the venue.

Narrating the show of shame to our correspondent, a member of the party and one of the delegates who witnessed the incident said the attack was targeted at the state leader of the party, Mr. O’tega Emerhor and the new state executive led by Mr. Cyril Ogodo, to deny them assess to the convention, but it was resisted, leading to fierce battle that left many injured.

Trouble was said to have started in the morning when the group loyal to Emerhor discovered that the Delta State delegates list, approved by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and signed by the outgoing National Chairman of the party, Mr. John Odigie Oyegun, had been changed by the senator representing Delta Central at the national Assembly and Secretary, Accreditation Sub-committee, Mr. Omo-Agege, in favour of his group.

At this point, unidentified faces suspected to be political thugs led by the identified snatcher of the senate mace, allegedly hired by Mr. Omo-Agege, hijacked printed delegate tags, and seats and began to attack the Delta State delegates led by the state party leader, Mr. Emerhor, and the newly-elected state Chairman, Mr. Ogodo, resulting to fight.[slideshow]60748[/slideshow]

"When we got to know that Omo-Agege and Great Ogboru and his faction had hijacked the tags and handed them over to Stella Okotete, we mobilized from Savannah where we were participating in the accreditation to AGIES, but to our surprise policemen at the gate denied us entry," a delegate said.

“While we were being held back, Omo-Agege and his group were busy inside sharing the tags to their members; and when our people protested, policemen started firing teargas at us, even into buses that conveyed our people to the place.

“Not to be suffocated, our delegates started running for their lives when, suddenly, some young men suspected to be Fulani militia unleashed attack on the delegates, leaving many sustaining matchet cuts, while about three with severe injuries were rushed to Gariki hospital."

According to another source who also witnessed the fight, the tags and seats belonging to the Emerhor's group recognised by the party (NWC), hijacked by the Omo-Agege faction, was the main cause of the fracas.

"in the course of the attack and the commotion, Omo-Agege and his people took over seats meant for Delta State delegates. Emerhor and other leaders had to secure tags to clear their people inside; as soon as their people came in, they demanded for their seats but were met with strong resistances from the Omo-Agege group leading to the fight," he said.

During the fracas, Mr. Great Ogboru, Mr. Omo-Agege, Mr. Otega Emerhor, Mr. Frank Kokori, Mr. Ibe Kachukwu, and other leaders of the party were seen scampering for their lives.

Meanwhile, a similar incident also occurred with the Imo state delegation, with chairs and tables freely used in a free-for-all between two factions of the party from the state.

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Politics