Remi Tinubu, Ojudu, Ashafa, 2 others attacked •As miscreants lay siege to Ibadan

Posted by admin Lagos, Latest Politics, Legislature, Raw Politics, Senate, State News Thursday, January 12th, 2012

SENATOR Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Bola Tinubu, and four other senators narrowly escaped death in Ibadan on Wednesday after protesters attacked their convoy.

The senators, who said they were travelling by road to Abuja, were allegedly led by police escorts, following the grounding of flights in airports across the country as a result of the strike declared by labour unions to protest government’s removal of subsidy on fuel.

According to an eyewitness, the protesters damaged five cars belonging to the senators, including the vehicles of the police escorts.

“The cars ‘windscreens and windows were allegedly shattered and the senators’ valuable belongings were stolen by the mob,” an eyewitness said.

Mrs Tinubu was on the trip with Olugbenga Ashafa (ACN Lagos State); Babafemi Ojudu (ACN Ekiti State); Babajide Omoworare (ACN Osun State) and a yet to be identified senator.

They all got stranded at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, missing the Senate’s first plenary for the year.

They were hoping to risk the potholes-ridden road to Abuja and catch up with at least one plenary for the week.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune by telephone, Mr Ojudu confirmed the incident.

The senators escaped the attack unhurt and were headed back to Lagos.

Meanwhile, miscreants masquerading as protesters continued their attacks on passersby and motorists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday, extorting money from them and harassing those who refused and in some cases forcibly taking possession of their handsets and other valuables.

Motorists at Challenge, Ring Road, Sango-Eleyele road, Oje, Yemetu, Beere, among others, had a rough time passing through those areas, as the protesters barricaded the roads and prevented them from driving through until they had parted with something.

A resident, Miss Onyinye Nkwodimah, who was returning from Lagos, said even the imposition of curfew did not deter the hoodlums who laid siege to all the roads even at night.

Narrating her ordeal at the hands of the miscreants at Challenge on Tuesday night after the declaration of curfew, Miss Nkwodimah said she and her sister, who were returning from Lagos, were waylaid by some elements at Challenge around 11.00p.m. “They barricaded the road with all sorts of things and asked us to give them N1,000 before they would allow us to pass. They did not even listen to our plea until we parted with the little amount we had on us,” she said.

Mr Femi Akinsola’s experience, on Wednesday morning, was not too different from Miss Nkwodimah’s. From his house at Oki area on Iwo-Ibadan road, he claimed he was forced to part with all the money he had on him and was even robbed by the miscreants at Aliwo-Gate area.

“I left my house with N5,000. I was paying my way through as roughly demanded by these people until I got to Aliwo.

“They forcibly collected my handset and the remaining money I had on me,” he narrated, adding that he was forced to abandon his journey at Yemetu when the policemen advised him against attempting to drive through the area to Beere, which was said to be very tense.”

Some other residents of the town had their own stories to tell. At Leventis-Sango area, the police had to dispatch the protesters who took over the Ojoo-Mokola before motorists and passers-by could safely pass through.

It was the same experience at Awotan, Apete and Ijokodo, where some individuals mounted roadblocks to extort money from motorcyclists and motorists. But Dugbe, Oke-Bola, Oke-Ado and Molete witnessed relative peace, as motorists, motorcyclists and commuters were allowed to use the road unmolested.

Meanwhile, despite the curfew imposed on the people of Oyo State by the state government, suspected hoodlums are still attacking innocent people in some parts of the state capital.

-Tribunewp_posts