A former lawmaker who represented Irele constituency at the House of Assembly, Hon. Afolabi Iwalewa was flogged mercilessly 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 thugs also attacked the current Caretaker Chairman of the local government area, Prince Gbadebo Odimayo.

 

According to Nigerian Tribune, 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.

 

The Caretaker Chairman, Odimayo, corroborated Iwalewa, pointing towards Igbasan as the mastermind of the violence during the Congress in the local government area, saying Igbasan and his team were indisposed to conducting a congress

 

Odimayo said he was not in support of the Igbasan and his group to allow the current executives to continue since there was no directive to the effect.

 

He however said, he left the place unhurt because “most of the thugs knew him and could not beat him but warned him to leave the venue immediately but said, “my special Assistant was critically lying in the hospital, while a supervisor in the local government was also beaten to coma.”

 

Denying the allegations, Igbasan described the allegations as “unfounded and far from the truth” saying the Congress was disrupted by Iwalewa and Odimayo.

 

According to Igbasan, there was no attempt to impose the current executives but laid the blame at the doorsteps of Odimayo.

 

He said “I was addressing the party members at the secretariat when Odimayo and some hoodlums invaded the venue and disrupted the whole exercise.

 

“I left the venue because of the charged atmosphere and left for my house with some party leaders. I invited Odimayo to a meeting with a view to finding a solution to the crisis but I was surprised to see hoodlums who invaded my house despite the presence of security operatives.

 

“There was no plan to impose the current executives, there would not need to address the party members if we planned to impose the executives. It was a white lie and figment of their imagination.”