“Assault undermines democracy” – ADC reacts as hoodlums disrupt celebration’s occasion in Lagos
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress in Lagos state, Olalekan Anjolaiya, has condemned the assault on members of the celebration who not too long ago defected from the Labour Occasion.
The incident occurred on Saturday throughout a ceremony organised to formally welcome former Labour Occasion members into the ADC in Alimosho native authorities space of Lagos.
Witnesses mentioned hoodlums, numbering greater than 100, stormed the primary venue on the Labour Occasion workplace in Idimu and chased members, together with celebration officers, out of the premises.
The attackers had been mentioned to have wielded weapons similar to knives and canes and assaulted these they caught through the chaos.
Some celebration members reportedly sustained various levels of accidents through the assault.
Occasion officers later relocated the occasion to another venue on the Eco Centre Occasion in Egbeda.
Olanrewaju Olushola, chairman of the Labour Occasion in Alimosho, described the assault on his members as unwarranted.
Moses Akujuobi, secretary of the celebration in Alimosho, mentioned police had earlier stopped plans for the open ceremony on the grounds that approval had not been obtained.
Akujuobi mentioned they contacted Abaniwonda, Space M Commander, who reportedly advised them that solely the commissioner of police might approve political occasions.
He alleged that closely armed policemen arrived in vans on the second venue shortly after the hoodlums left and sealed off the situation.
In an announcement issued on Saturday, Anjolaiya described the incident as a “violent assault” on residents exercising their democratic rights.
He mentioned the assault was “not solely an assault on harmless residents however a direct affront to democracy and the constitutional rights of Nigerians”.
Anjolaiya criticised the alleged function of the police, saying sealing off the venue “on directions from above” was unacceptable in a constitutional democracy.
“The police are constitutionally mandated to guard lives, property, and lawful political actions — to not suppress or hinder them,” he mentioned.
He alleged that police conduct through the incident bolstered perceptions of selective policing and political bias in Lagos.
Anjolaiya additionally recalled an identical assault on supporters of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour throughout his affirmation occasion within the state.
He cited part 40 of the 1999 Structure, saying it ensures the rights to peaceable meeting and freedom of affiliation.
“Political participation, together with the choice to decamp from one political celebration to a different, is a lawful and democratic course of that have to be revered and guarded by all state establishments,” he mentioned.
“Using violence, intimidation, and state equipment to stifle political selection undermines our democracy and units a harmful precedent,” he added.
Anjolaiya mentioned democracy might solely thrive when political competitors was carried out “with out concern, coercion, or violence”.
“We is not going to be silenced. We is not going to be intimidated. The democratic rights of Nigerians have to be upheld always,” he mentioned.