Thugs invade SDP meeting in Kwara, beat chairman, others
Police foil plot to truncate NEC meeting in Abuja
ABOUT 15 thugs, yesterday, invaded the Labour House in Ilorin, Kwara State, venue of a press briefing by a faction of the Social Democratic Party ( SDP).
This was as the police foiled a plot by hoodlums to truncate the party’s National Executive Council ( NEC) meeting in Abuja.
The Kwara thugs forced their way into the building owned by the state’s branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC) and descended on the conveners of the meeting.
The factional chairman of the party in Ifelodun Local Council of the state, James Olajide, was beaten to a pulp. With his cloth torn and cap seized, he was dragged on the ground by the thugs for about five minutes.
An elderly man, who was walking with the aid of a staff, and others were also beaten and driven away.
On Tuesday, the Publicity Secretary of a faction of SDP, Mr. Kareem Akanbi, had announced the suspension of eight members from the party for alleged anti- party activities, signalling a leadership crisis within SDP.
The conveners of Wednesday’s briefing were among the suspended.
Before the invasion, another factional chairman of the party, Ibrahim Yahaya, had alleged plans by some former members of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) loyal to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who recently joined the party, to hijack it from the pioneer executive of the party.
His words: “It is no longer news that a faction of APC in Kwara ( i. e. APC Loyal) formally applied to join our party, the SDP, via a letter to SDP
National Secretariat dated March 9, 2022 and a reply dated March 11, 2022. The National Secretariat of SDP acknowledged the APC Loyal’s letter and the intention to join the SDP in Kwara, with a promise to work on a harmonisation arrangement on how their interests will be accommodated.
“While the original SDP members in Kwara under my leadership were waiting for further directives from National Secretariat, we were shocked to hear about a purported congress of Kwara SDP on April 26, 2022 which was stage- managed by the APC Loyal group, in collaboration with some officials of SDP.”
According to him, the sole aim of the April 26 congress was to hijack the party from the original members, who had worked tirelessly to bring it to its enviable position in Kwara.
Arguing that the congress contravened the SDP constitution, he said the original members of Kwara SDP were denied participation in the congress, contrary to the Electoral Act 2022.
“We have protested the purported state congress of Kwara SDP held of April 25 at the Kwara APC Loyal Secretariat to the National Secretariat of the party.
“Also, we have instructed our team of lawyers, who have since swung into action to challenge in court the legality of the purported congress held on April 26, 2022,” he added.
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T the Abuja incident, trouble started when 15 armed thugs in black outfits stormed Merit House, venue of the meeting, molesting some of the officials, after the first session of the meeting presided over by the Acting Chairman, Chief Supo Shonibare.