The All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign ahead of the August 15 governorship election turned tragic on Wednesday after a truck rammed into a procession for the party’s candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, in Ede, killing one member and injuring several others.
Eyewitnesses said the truck lost its brakes and ploughed into the crowd of APC supporters who had gathered for a rally.
The deceased, Abdul-Rasak Abdul-Hammed, has been buried at a cemetery in Ede. Notable party chieftains attended the burial to pay their last respects.
Other party members who sustained various degrees of injuries are receiving treatment at undisclosed hospitals.
In a condolence message issued on Tuesday, the Imole Campaign Council, TICC, commiserated with the APC and families of those affected, describing the incident as tragic.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, Esq, the TICC said it received news of the crash “with profound sadness.”
“Our campaign council is visibly shaken by reports that the accident recorded a fatality while several other victims are in critical condition and receiving treatment at the hospital,” the statement read.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family of the departed and everyone touched by the loss,” Olajengbesi said. He added that the council’s thoughts and prayers were with those fighting for recovery.
“In this moment of anguish and adversity, we hope that the families impacted find strength in the support and prayers of those around them, and have the strength to overcome this period of pain,” the TICC stated.
The council said it was bound by “shared humanity to stand in solidarity” with citizens affected by the tragedy. It prayed for God to forestall such occurrences and protect everyone, irrespective of party affiliations, before and after the August 15 governorship poll.
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However, the TICC faulted the AMBO Campaign Council for what it described as “insensitive conduct.”
It said many hours after the incident, AMBO had not honoured the memory of the dead APC member or the injured.
The statement alleged that APC candidate, Oyebamiji, continued his “jamboree of inaugurating lame canvassers” in the same local government where the tragedy occurred.
It also accused APC Campaign Director General, Oluwole Oke, of “posing for childish photographs without any iota of sympathy for the mourning widow and her children in his backyard.”
The council maintained that “singing and shouting party slogans when families mourn as a result of an accident involving supporters amounts to a reckless display of cruelty and inhumanity.” It added that such conduct “further suggests that the APC candidate is utterly unfit for leadership.”
Meanwhile, at the Ede cemetery, APC Deputy Governorship Candidate, Engr. Benjamin Adereti, described the loss as painful. “It is a tough call for us because we lost a dear brother. It is an unfortunate incident and we are yet to unravel the mystery behind this incident because we are touched,” he said.
“The way the incident happened, a truck rammed into our members in Ede where we were campaigning for the gubernatorial election,” Adereti added.
He called on security agencies in Osun State and Nigeria to conduct a thorough investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
He said the party was probing whether it was “a direct ploy from the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke and the Accord Party to stop us from forging ahead with our campaign in Ede.”
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