POLICE TEAR-GAS APC SUPPORTERS AT AKURE ‘WALK FOR CHANGE’ RALLY The police in Akure, Ondo State capital, yesterday disrupted a peaceful rally organised by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to welcome the party’s vice- presidential candidate, Pastor Yemi Osibanjo. Not a few party members who thronged the campaign office of General Muhammadu Buhari at Leo Junction along Oyemekun Road in Akure were tear-gassed. The rally, tagged ‘Work for Change’, was organised by an APC chieftain, Hon Boloa Ilori, and witnessed by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State. A cheerful crowd of APC supporters and members of the Hausa community had assembled at the venue of the rally as early as 7. a.m to welcome Prof Osinbajo when men of the Ondo State Police Command stormed the venue and released tear gas to disperse the crowd. Journalists who were on ground to cover the rally were not spared by the police. The Nation gathered that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Isaac Eke, had warned the APC members to confine their rally to the premises of the campaign office. The APC members were said to have insisted on carrying out their rally by walking round the town, arguing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had lifted ban on campaign rallies Speaking with reporters, the Chairman of Ondo APC, Isaac Kekemeke, said the incident was an unfolding drama because he had been in constant touch with the state Commissioner of Police on the need to allow the party to hold the rally. He said: “I have been discussing with the Commissioner of Police constantly. I still spoke with him a few minutes ago and we are still talking. He told me that he had been directed from Abuja not to allow the rally to hold because our campaign would disturb the peace of the state. “Our party members have conducted themselves peacefully with members of the public and we are only waiting for our visitors, Osibanjo, Aregbesola and others to start the programme before we were tear-gassed. “I have urged my members not to attack the police; we are going to hold the rally. If the police attack you, don’t attack them, if they tear- gas you, use water to clean your face”. Gov. Aregbesola, who later arrived with Osinbajo and Iyaloja of Osun State, Alhaja Akindemade, warned Nigerians against casting their votes for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, noting that giving Jonathan a second chance will completely ruin Nigerian economy. Aregbesola lamented the continuous stealing of 400,000 crude oil barrels per day since July 2013. He explained that the stolen crude oil worth $40million at a time when oil was being sold at $150 per crude oil. According to him: “We should vote for development and kick out corruption, poverty and unemployment, by voting Buhari in. If a government could allow about 400, 000 crude oil to be missing per day, we should know we are in for serious trouble. “Since July 2013, every day, we have been losing 400,000 crude oil barrels to oil theft. Do you know the worth of such, if the crude oil is being sold at the rate of $150 per barrel? That is $40million per day that we are losing to oil thieves and if you look at this for a year, that is over $14billion. Should we allow this kind of government to continue to rule over us? “We must vote them out. I am urging people who have not collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to go back to their various local government areas, INEC offices and get their PVCs. They still have the chance to get the cards till January 31, this month”. The APC vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, assured members of the public that the party would adopt the school feeding policy of Osun State government for every public school across the country, if voted for. He said no child in the primary school level across the country would come to school with empty stomach again. Business activities in the state were paralysed as APC supporters and residents trooped out to receive Osinbajo and Aregbesola. Party members and supporters, including members of the Asiwaju Grassroots Foundation (AGF) led by its coordinator Ayodele Wisdom, Hausa Community, Okada riders, market women later participated in the rally, walking from Leo Junction to the Alagbaka area of Akure. The convener of the rally, Hon Ilori, said the ‘Walk for Change’ was informed by the need for people to actively participate in the process to ensure meaningful change in the country. He lamented that people have always talked about election in the four corners of their house without coming out to participate in the system. At the event were Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Ifedayo Abegunde, Osun State Speaker, Najeem Salam, Chief Tayo Alasoadura, Tunji Abayomi and Prince Solagbade Amodeni, among others.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:20:42 +0000
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