The People’s Democratic Party in Oyo State has demanded the arrest of the All Progressive Congress candidate for governor, Teslim Folarin, for the alleged attack on its members during their (APC) demonstration in the city of Oyo.
The APC recently held its campaign rally in the city of Oyo, Oyo State, where the incident allegedly occurred.
Speaking in an interview with saturday punchPDP state spokesman Akeem Olatunji accused Folarin of orchestrating the attack on members of his party after the demonstration.
He accused the APC of vandalizing his campaign billboard before the demonstration began.
Olatunji, however, asked the Inspector General of Police, Baba Usman, to arrest Folarin.
He said, “Last week in Oyo, they (APC) replaced our billboard with theirs. And this is a billboard that we’ve paid to use for six months that will run through April. They did that one night before their rally and after doing so, they vandalized other billboards and posters.
“On their way after the demonstration, they unleashed terror on our people in Akensan Owode; cars were vandalized, stores were looted, lives were lost, and many people were injured. They are the perpetrators and because they want to discredit this government, they fabricate lies.
“That is why we call on the Inspector General of Police to please arrest Oloye Teslim Folarin because he has been singled out,” he said.
In reaction, APC Oyo State Publicity Secretary Olawale Sadare discredited the allegation and accused the PDP of attacking them (APC supporters) during the demonstration.
He also challenged the PDP to provide evidence that their billboard was destroyed.
He said: “I was physically present at the rally on Monday and throughout the period, we had the rally and there was no problem, no instance of harassment or intimidation from any side. In fact, none of our members and supporters were harassed or intimidated during the demonstration.
“We finished the meeting before 4 in the afternoon and the people were dispatched to their different destinations. Later, when I got to Ibadan, I heard that there were reports of a violent attack in Oyo. I had to call our people in Oyo to find out what exactly happened.
“What we later realized is that a few elements who are surprised by the participation in the rally were the ones who mobilized their thugs.
“They went to the houses of some of our members and started attacking them. We have photos of damaged vehicles and homes and people who sustained injuries. These people are our members.
“If the PDP or any other party claims to be a victim, we challenge them to show photos of their property or members who were attacked and injured. We have photos of our members who were violently attacked and injured.
“We have a photo of our members’ business premises attacked and vandalized. In all these, they are just to put the blame on us. We had a successful rally; what will be the basis that will make us attack people. What we wanted had happened; we wanted people to come out in droves to show their support. How would we turn around to start attacking people?