A Federal lawmaker and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Rural Development, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, narrowly escaped assassination in Ota, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State on Wednesday night, when some suspected political thugs shot at his convoy, killing one of his supporters.
The incident occurred at about 7:00pm, when suspected armed hoodlums attacked Adebutu’s convoy convoy in the Oke-Ide area of the twon, opening fire on him and his supporters, who had accompanied on a visit to the area.
Adebutu, who represents Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, was said to be returning from a meeting of the Ogun West Senatorial District Peoples Democratic Party in Aiyetoro, headquarters of Yewa North Local Government Area, when he decided to make a stop-over in Ota to pay a solidarity visit to some party members arrested on Tuesday following a complaint by a rival faction of the party led by Prince Segun Seriki.
According to an eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, Adebutu had barely left the area, when the suspected hoodlums opened fire on his long convoy, causing commotion and sending many people scampering to safety.
At the end of the commotion, an unidentified supporter of the lawmaker, who was also part of his convoy, was hit by a stray bullet and died on the spot.
Our correspondent gathered that a fresh crisis in the PDP in Ogun State began last Tuesday, when Seriki visited the Oju Ore area of Ota to declare his governorship ambition in the 2019 general elections.
Some PDP members said to be supporters of another aspirant, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, allegedly opposed Seriki’s decision to declare his ambition in Ogun West Senatorial District. During the commotion and fighting that greeted Seriki’s action, several members of the PDP in the area were arrested by the police and subsequently arraigned in court.
Sources, however, revealed that Adebutu later came to the rescue of the PDP members arrested for opposing Seriki’s declaration of his governorship ambition in the town by providing them free legal services to secure their bail.
This was said not to have gone down well with some politicians in the state. Sources further hinted that this could have been the reason behind the Federal lawmaker’s ambush on Wednesday night in Ota.
It was also learnt that several leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state, including a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, were also around in Ota for a political meeting at the time of the shooting incident on Wednesday night.
Adebutu’s Media Consultant, Steve Oliyide, however, told our correspondent on the phone that some hoodlums believed to have been sponsored by the Federal lawmaker’s political opponents carried out the violent attack on him.
Oliyide also disclosed that the matter had already been reported to the Ogun State Police Command at Eleweran, the state’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the Intelligence Response Team at Obada-Oko, all in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, could not be reached on the phone to confirm the incident.
Oyeyemi, an assistant superintendent of police, did not also reply an SMS message sent to him.
