The All Progressive Congress, APC, campaign train in Ogun state on Monday became violent when some thugs believed to be members of the party attacked and stripped a woman in purdah naked .
The woman, Hamdalat Ayinde was said to have been in search of money to retrieve the corpse of her daughter, Barakat Ayinde, who died in the early hours of the fateful day at Federal Medical Center, FMC, Idi-Aba before she ran into the the party’s campaign train.
She was reported to have boarded a motorcycle, popularly called okada before she was attacked alongside the bike rider, stripped naked by a group of thugs led by Skingy and Alagira in Saje area of the Abeokuta metropolis.
According to reports, the father of the victim, Alhaji Popoola was also allegedly attacked during the campaign process by the hoodlums.
Responding to the incident on phone, her husband Abdul Akeem Ayinde told our correspondent that he and his wife “were looking for N116,000 to retrieve our deceased daughter from the hospital before she was attacked by the APC thugs”.
Ayinde added that two of his friends, Hazzan Ademola and Nafiu were also attacked when they got to the scene of the incident to rescue his wife, their motorcycle was also damaged by the hoodlums in the process.
He said, “Our first born died in the hospital and FMC charged us N116,000. Me and my wife were struggling to source for the money and we have to go our different ways to source for the money.
“I was later called on phone that my wife was attacked at Saje area, on getting there, she has been harassed and we met her naked. We couldn’t approach the thugs because they were armed with cutlass.
“Some of the thugs later escaped in a jeep. We’re able to dispossessed one of them and took him to the police station, but to our dismay, the other guys later appeared in the police station and they were all released.”
He stated that his wife was taken to another hospital where she was receiving treatment while the dead body of his daughter still remain at FMC.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Right Concern, MURIC, has decried the thugs’ actions as an act of terrorism, which could cause religious crisis.
The Muslim body in a statement by its State Coordinator, Lukman Soliu demanded for a speedy re-arrest of the hoodlums and their immediate prosecution.
The statement read in part, “Therefore, the Muslim Community wants the police to prosecute the case with desired urgency it requires. The Muslim Community would not tolerate the case being swept under the carpet as done in the past where Muslims attacked were treated as inconsequential by the police especially at Adatan police Station. Our position was further buttressed by the release of the culprit few hours after their arrest.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of Ogun Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the occurrence of the incident. He however assured that the matter had been settled amicably.
