The Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS) has dismissed insinuations of being a cult group because of the red beret worn by its members.
The group also deplored all those associating its members with thuggery and violence, challenging them to present proofs of their claims.
A statement on Saturday in Akure by the group’s State Director of Information, Kayode Fasua, titled, “LACO-FS red beret, not a trademark of cultism,” read, “Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS) is a peaceful, mainstream campaign organisation for the Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa, and has never been in anyway associated with thuggery, brigandage, or anything untoward.
“Joyfully, our team has been campaigning across the state among our party members in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in preparation for the governorship primary election coming up next month.
“It is, however, benumbing coming across grave expressions on the the social media, especially through some twitter handles (now rebranded as X), that our group is bringing cultism to Ondo State for the simple reason that we don red berets to our campaign rallies.
“While those bandying the insinuations of thuggery or cultism have bombarded the net with their tar brushes, they fail woefully to prove any instance of violence in our activities, and find it hard to produce any pictorial or camera evidence of where Aiyedatiwa supporters under the aegis of LACO-FS are armed with any weapon at all, much less a dangerous one.
“Certainly, such critics are only full of bile and are consumed by their giddy belicosity, in envy of the unstoppable love that the people of Ondo State have for Governor Aiyedatiwa. In simple logic of semantics, a foot soldier stands for a committed supporter in readiness to work with loyalty and dedication, which we indeed stand for, in our support for the election of Aiyedatiwa come next November.
“Doomdayers and naysayers should produce proof when alleging violence; otherwise, they should keep silent and watch from the sidelines, as we march on in this show of love for a dedicated Governor whom the people of Ondo State want, for the next term of four years.
“Therefore, LACO-FS comes in peace.
(E-=signed)
Kayode Fasua,
State Director of Information,
Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS)