OGUN RALLY: Stone Throwing, Violence & Booing, Read The Full Gist Here

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday at the Ogun State All Progressives Congress presidential rally in Abeokuta, narrowly escaped being stoned as suspected thugs pelted the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, with stones and water sachets.

The crowd also booed Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Oshiomhole and the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu.

The rally, which started immediately after President Buhari arrived at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta venue of the event at about 3.00pm, was suspended for some minutes following the violence that broke out.

Violence erupted when Oshiomhole was invited to the podium for his speech. As he began to speak, suspected hoodlums started throwing stones at him and one of the stones flew in the direction of the President.

He was saved by one of the security operatives who was hit by one of the stones thrown in the direction of the APC chairman.

The development angered the leaders of the party, including Tinubu, who left the podium while the President was making his remarks.

Tinubu was so enraged that while he was leaving the podium, he flung the APC’s flag which was placed beside him and went to sit in his car parked in the President’s convoy.

While he was going into the car, he was followed by some suspected thugs who were shouting ‘ole’, ‘ole’,’ole ‘ole’ (thief, thief, thief ) after him.

Oshiomhole further aggravated the crisis when he mentioned Dapo Abiodun as the party’s governorship candidate in the state while addressing the crowd.

Upon hearing Abiodun’s name, the crowd started booing Oshiomhole while some threw objects including stones and water sachet at him, prompting security agents to guard him.

Amosun had lost out in his bid to secure the APC governorship ticket for his ally, Adekunle Akinlade.

The governor had accused Oshiomhole and some APC leaders of working against his interest through Abiodun’s emergence.

He also vowed not to hand over to Abiodun.

Shortly after, Akinlade defected to the Allied Peoples Movement and Amosun backed his action.

He even took him to the presidential villa where they met with Buhari.

This, the Ogun APC, claimed was responsible for the violent rally as it alleged that Amosun was behind the crisis on Monday.

While speaking before he was attacked, Oshiomhole had said, “The primary purpose for today is to solicit support for our candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, and to also present the APC flag to our governorship candidate in the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun.”

As soon as Oshiomhole said this, shouts of “Ole! Ole! Ole!” (thief, thief, thief) rent the air as the suspected party thugs pelted him with stones.

The atmosphere became charged to the extent that Amosun had to mount the podium again to beg the hoodlums to stop the attacks on Oshiomhole and others.

Appealing to the angry crowd, he said, “I beg you in the name of God. This is what they want to happen. Please don’t disgrace me here,” he said in Yoruba.

“Our father is here, please don’t disgrace me. I beg you in the name of God, please don’t disgrace me before our father… We have laboured this hard. I am appealing to you. Please leave. I beg you in the name of God, please leave. I beg you. I am begging.”

Despite the breakdown of law and order at the rally, Oshiomhole hurriedly presented the party flag to Abiodun.

Earlier in his welcome address, Amosun had eulogised Buhari’s virtues and highlighted the reasons Ogun people should vote for him.

Amosun said, “ We have accepted President Muhammadu Buhari as our father. In the interest of love and the respect we have for Mr President, let us swallow our pride and subdue our anger. Don’t let them go back with an erroneous impression that we are not for Buhari.

“We are not just supporting Buhari because he is our father, but, because of his performance. Look at what he has done for the entire nation, he is someone with integrity. He said he would fix all our roads and infrastructure. He has done a lot for us. He has kept all his promises. They are looters and that is why they are against Buhari. This is about all of us”.

The governor, however, provoked Oshiomhole and other party leaders when he urged his supporters to vote Buhari on February 16 while he stylishly supported Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement.

Aregbesola, who was not scheduled to speak at the rally considering the programme of event, spoke in Yoruba, saying, “We are not happy with the hypocrites among us. We are the APC, but, many people are hypocrites here. We must ensure that in February and March, we vote the APC.”

While the situation was tense, Osinbajo was called to make his remarks but he initially rejected the offer.

He was prevailed upon by Amosun to make his speech. In his speech, Osinbajo said he believed that the current administration deserved a second term.

He reiterated the President’s resolve to tackle corruption, affirming that it was possible to build a country free of corruption.

“Our country’s major problem is corruption. Our country is not short of money or ideas but it is short of men of character to use the resources judiciously,” he said.

When it got to his turn, Buhari maintained a neutral stand by telling the people to “vote for him in the presidential election and vote for the candidate of their choice in the March 2 poll.

The President thereafter raised Abiodun’s hands. This angered Akinlade’s supporters and they started hurling stones at the President and other leaders of the party .

They shouted “No! No! No!” as the security agents attached to the President smuggled him into his car and zoomed off.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Caretaker Committee led by Chief Yemi Sanusi has apologised to the President over what it called “gross misconduct, indiscipline, disrespect and disorder perpetrated by agents of Governor Amosun.”

The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Tunde Oladunjoye, alleged that Amosun used thugs to cause violence at the APC rally.

When contacted, the embattled APC Publicity Secretary, Wole Elegbede, said the protest at the rally was to express the faction’s rejection of Abiodun’s candidacy.

Elegbede said the party was not happy over the incident, though he said the national leadership should be blamed for the protests.

However, the PDP on Monday said the assault on President Buhari, the Vice-President and the party chieftains was a direct message by Nigerians that they had rejected the party.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement said, “The people of Ogun State, and indeed, the South-West, have shown that they are in direct alignment with other states and geopolitical zones of our country in rejecting President Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, whose administration has foisted so much injustice and brought unprecedented pain and anguish to Nigerians.”

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