They came fully prepared; I was trying to repel them. But the gunshots continued for few minutes.
Lasun Yusuff, the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in the July 16 Osun State election has narrated how his house was in the early hours of Monday attacked by unidentified gunmen.
Speaking with journalists, Yusuff revealed that when the shooting started, he ran to his wife's room where she and his children were sleeping, and switched off the light.
Yusuff, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives had appeared on Sunday night at the Osun Gubernatorial debate organised by the Channels Television in Osogbo.
“They came fully prepared; I was trying to repel them. But the gunshots continued for few minutes. I went to my wife and children’s rooms and found out they were sleeping, I switched off the light,” he said.
“Incidentally, I didn’t tell them anything but they knew they were gunshots; so they lay on the ground. So I just watched these men patrolling the compound for some minutes, they went to the front of the house and started shooting sporadically.”
In May 2022, Yusuff had claimed he narrowly escaped being killed by some political thugs who allegedly attacked his convoy in Osogbo.
“All these ugly attacks on me personally and my campaign office point to the fact that my life and all others involved in my Gubernatorial Campaign in Osun are in serious danger,” he had said.
“Last week, some groups of political thugs abruptly stopped my convoy threatening and warning me of several planned attacks if we refuse to back down/stop our gubernatorial campaign. In fact, to put it straight, I was told point-blank that my life is in danger and that they will continue to trail me and also disrupt all my campaign activities and events anywhere in Osun State.
“At exactly 11pm yesterday, some political thugs numbering about eight stormed my campaign office at Oroki Estate barely 30 minutes after we all left for the day. They came with cutlasses, guns and other weapons and descended on my billboards, signposts and windows of the gatehouse destroying everything in sight.
“The Night Guard in panic came out to challenge them with all his might. He was, however, able to battle them, causing them to run away. But this happened after they had destroyed everything outside the campaign office while the Night Guard’s resistance prevented them from gaining entrance to the Campaign Office.
“I, therefore, seize this opportunity to intimate the Public and the whole world that my political opponents have sponsored some thugs to be after my life and to disturb our Gubernatorial Campaign. The Security Operatives are hereby put on Red alert in this respect.”