Several people were reportedly injured on Saturday after a fight broke out during the local government congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo state. The injured which included the former lawmaker, representing the area at the House of Assembly, Hon. Afolabi Iwalewa, and the current Caretaker Chairman of the local government area, Prince Gbadebo Odimayo.
Speaking on the development, Iwalewa explained that trouble started when the leader of the party in the area and Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Emmanuel Igbasan, led some hoodlums to the venue of the congress.
According to him, members of the party in the local government had assembled at the party secretariat for the exercise, waiting for the officials and party leaders but most of the members were disappointed when they learnt that the Congress would not hold.
He said “Igbasan and some leaders of the party in the local government area, insisted that the current executives of the party at the local government level should continue in that capacity while we wanted a congress to usher in new leaders.
“They invaded the party secretariat with hoodlums numbering 30 and started shooting sporadically into the air to scare away people while some people were hit with a machete and beaten to coma.
The former lawmaker said he ran into the Chairman office and they came out together after the Caretaker Chairman had called the security agents, but said the presence of the security operatives could not save him as the hoodlums descended on him and inflicted injuries on him.
He, however, said he was rescued by the policeman and taken away from the scene of the incident with the police Hilux van.
