Indications of a sharp division in Osun State All progressives Congress (APC) showed on Saturday, as supporters of Interior Minister, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, clashed with those of the state governor, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola.
Several persons reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries in the melee.
It was gathered that the fight broke out after the two groups met at the party secretariat where they had gone to submit petitions over the just concluded ward congress of the party.
Buraimo Adeleye, a party member who said he was at the secretariat, accused the Aregbesola group of instigating the clash “for no just reason.”
“While waiting to have the appeal committee, who arrived late, the TOP [The Osun Progressives] group stormed the party secretariat in their large numbers and started chasing our members.
“This caused members to scamper for safety and that was how the fracas started.”
The TOP is the group loyal to Aregbesola.
One Nurudeen Ajetunmobi was said to have been severely injured alongside other party members by some unknown thugs.
Eyewitnesses said a few minutes after the clash, the party members loyal to Aregbesola returned to the secretariat in large numbers, chanting ‘TOP TOP TOP,’ ‘loke loke.’ Loke is a Yoruba word for ‘top.’
A video was also later shared on social media showed the protesters accusing the governor of sponsoring thugs to the party secretariat.
In the 21-minute video, an elderly man in the crowd was seen saying, “Oyetola ko loni APC”, meaning, the governor is not the owner of the APC in the state.
But in his reaction, Governor Oyetola appealed to rival members of the party to maintain decorum and give peace a chance, adding that the ongoing appeal process should be allowed to run its full course.
He also condemned what he termed as “unruly behaviour” exhibited by some aggrieved members of the party at the APC Secretariat in Osogbo, saying no sane society would condone any act of lawlessness.
The governor, who spoke through a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, directed security operatives to take charge of the party secretariat to prevent any further breakdown of law and order.
Oyetola, while sympathising with individuals who sustained injuries, called on security operatives to fish out perpetrators and ensure justice is served.
“I appeal to party members, especially those who have already filed their petitions before the Appeal Committee over the conduct of the last Ward Congress in the state to sheathe their swords and toe the line of peace and the law.
“Since the matter is already before the Appeal Committee, they should allow the process to run its full course. We are known for peace as a people.
“We should do all in our power to sustain that recognition in our collective interest,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, the TOP had organised a press conference in Osogbo where they alleged that some people within the party and government were planning to attack leaders of their faction.
The TOP chairman, Mr. Adeliwo Adebiyi, said the planned attack was because of the group’s struggle to restructure and re-energise the party.
But Gboyega Famodun, the APC caretaker chairman in the state and member of the group loyal to the governor, described the allegation as baseless.