Weeks Governorship Election, APC Thugs Brutalise SDP Supporters
With weeks to the governorship election in Kogi State, violence against supporters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), candidate for the November 11 poll, Mr Murtala Ajaka, has spread to Dekina town in the Dekina local government area of the state.
The latest victim in the vicious attack that has become a daily occurrence because the security agencies failed to take action is one Chalito James.
It was learnt that Chalito was attacked in his house like others because he refused to join and work for the All Progressives Congress candidate in the forthcoming election.
It was earlier reported that armed political thugs suspected to be working for the ruling APC again attacked the campaign office of Ajaka, at Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
They had also attacked one Hon Samad Iko-Ójó Murtala, the Coordinator Muri Network in Ofu Local Government Area in his house opposite UEC School field Ugwolawo at about 12:30 a.m.
The attackers according to the victim shot sporadically, ransacked his house, and when they could not get him, they vandalised his house.
Barely 24 hours after the attack on Murtala, the APC thugs spread their terror to Dekina town.
The assault on Chalito in the early hours of Wednesday, according to eyewitness who rescued him after he was shot several times and left to bleed to death, was led by Muhammed Rufai.
According to the witnesses, Rufai was supposed to be Chalito’s close friend until recently he was recruited into APC thugs to silence oppositions in their various localities and towns with alleged support of Governor Yahaya Bello.
A video of the incident shared on Wednesday morning, shows Chalito critically lying in hospital bed as doctors battle to save his life.
According to one of the eyewitnesses who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity because of his own life, said trouble started when Chalito refused to accept offer from an APC leader from that town, identified as Abubakar Rajab.
Rajab according to the witness had been on the neck of this victim (Chalito James) to come back and support his party but the boy declined, telling him that the support he had given his party so far shows no improvement and no development.
“Few days ago, the same Rajab invited Rufai to Lokoja, took pictures with ‘slave masters’ in Lokoja and he was given some cash gifts and he submitted the phone numbers of SDP supporters who are from Dekina that they needed to eliminate.
“They have been calling these SPD supporters including Chalito and threatening them to support APC or leave Dekina town but amidst the threat, they still declined.
“This night, James Chalito was terribly attacked by his former friend, Rufai with some other APC thugs in his house. They shoot him and inflicted him with serious injuries in the head and hands. They shot him at the back and left him to bleed to death but through the help of neighbours he was rescued and rushed to hospital where doctors are currently battling to save his life.”
However, the campaign council of SDP has continued to call on President Bola Tinubu and security agencies to urgently intervene and address the drift in Kogi State before it fatally undermines democracy in the state.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the Kogi State Police Command on the attack were unsuccessful as the Command’s spokesperson, SP William Ovye Aya could not be reached on phone as his number was said to be switched off at the time of filing this report.
