Curfew: APC, PDP in war of words over political thuggery, recent violent attack in Taraba

The Director-General Campaign Organisation of the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who is also the National President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Boboi Kaigama, openly accused Governor Darius Ishaku, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Taraba State of sponsoring the attack on the APC campaign train in Wukari.

The campaign train of the APC governorship candidate in Taraba State Sani Danladi was on the January 17 attacked by suspected political thugs in Wukari, the headquarters of Wukari local government area of Taraba State.

Kaigama also accused the governor of supplying arms to political thugs in the state to destabilise the opposition campaign across the sixteen local government areas of the state.

The DG while narrating how the campaign convoy of APC was attacked in Wukari in a press briefing on Saturday, said the APC governorship candidate was driving peacefully to Ibi to flag off his campaign without any provocation.

“We were driving peacefully on the way to Ibi to commence the rallies, the convoy was accosted by a formidable armed group right inside Wukari, the action was completely unprovoked, the attackers were using guns.

“Over ten vehicles were burnt, ten people were shot, they looted our vehicles before they were set ablaze, in this case, it was hired PDP criminal gang by governor Darius Ishaku.”

Reacting to the allegations, the commissioner for information Taraba State, Hon. Simon Duger, in a press conference at government house in Jalingo, said, Sani Danladi invaded Wukari with thugs armed with guns with an intention to disrupt the town.

Dugeri said it has been in the political life of Danladi, the APC gubernatorial candidate to always use thugs in all his political activities and the case of Wukari was the same.

“It is on record that Sani is a leader of thugs in Taraba State, it is his political violence that pushed out the APC stakeholders out of the party, he has once openly said he will use violence to destroy election in Taraba State so that election in the state will be conducted at the time other states might have concluded their elections so the APC will use its federal might to rig the election for him.

“He initially refused to sign the peace accord introduced by the state Commissioner of police to ensure violent free polls, the governor is already on top of the matter as he directed the security to fish out those who were involved in the Wukari crisis.”

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Mr David Akinremi, the Commissioner of Police Taraba state command while answering questions on phone with our correspondent said one person was killed and six vehicles on the convoy of Sani Danladi were burnt while the APC candidate was on his way to Ibi to kickstart his gubernatorial campaign in Ibi.

Akinremi said youths in Wukari had barricaded the road where the convoy was to pass and in the process of trying to clear the road, one person was killed.

“The allegations that the security personnel attached to the convoy just open fire is laughable. We are trained to do our job and can not act in such an unprofessional manner.

“There was a blockage of the convoy and an operative of the Department of State Service (DSS) was shot and wounded in the attack before security operatives on the convoy took action to clear the way.

“The youth first shot at the security personnel and the convoy and our men responded in defense.

“The DSS personnel who was shot by the miscreants is receiving treatment at the Wukari General Hospital,” he said.

Chairman of Wukari Local Government Council in Taraba State, Hon. Daniel Adi who also confirmed that one person was killed and four others injured, however, blamed the clash on the action of the security personnel attached to the APC Governorship candidate.

Adi called on the people of the local government to remain calm as the state government has taken steps to avoid a repeat of such an incident.

“When the convoy of the APC got to Hyuku village about 6km to Wukari town the security attached to him shot in the air and when they got into town, they shot three times and in the process, one person was shot in the leg.

“When the youth saw that one of them, a roadside mechanic who was doing his legitimate business was shot, they went and block their way around the Ibi roundabout close to Police Area command.

“Tension was high and when the military came in to disperse the youths, they killed one person in the process,” he said.

The 6 to 6 curfew imposed by the governor in Wukari as a result of the crisis was still on at the time of this report.