Suspected political thugs invaded Ward 6 in Irewole local government during the Osun State governorship election on Saturday, resulting in a near-death experience for the Returning Officer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Jide Jooda, and other prominent party members.
It was gathered that the violence erupted when the thugs suspected that the PDP candidate, Ademola Adeleke, was leading against the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
The incident occurred in Ikire, Ward 6, which is also the hometown of the incumbent deputy governor, Benedict Alabi.
One of the voters who witnessed the incident, Mr. Adedire Habeeb, told The Nation that one Odeyemi Kazeem Shina, a staunch member of the PDP, almost lost his life when the thugs attacked and beat him mercilessly to the point that one of his eyes was severely damaged.
The eyewitness stated that Shina’s ordeal began due to his loyalty to the PDP and refusal to support the deputy governor, which the thugs believed could jeopardize the ruling party’s chances in the ward.
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He noted that Shina was rushed to the hospital to save his eye, adding that he expressed doubt over Shina’s recovery due to the severity of the assault.
According to him, “It was a case of political crisis and I doubt if Shina has not lost his eye because I can’t imagine how hard he was hit in the eye by those thugs. Only God can save him from losing that eye.”
In a related incident, a voter simply identified as Adebayo Nurudeen, also recounted how the PDP Returning Officer for the LG, Jide Jooda, was also hospitalized after being beaten by political thugs
He added that a son of the former woman leader of the Ward, Babatunde Ogunmodede, was hit in the head while resisting the thugs’ attempts to disrupt the election process.