Hoodlums on Saturday attacked the campaign convoy of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Dei-Dei axis of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In the convoy were; representative of the FCT Minister, Chairman of the party in the FCT, Abdulmalik Usman, the Director General of FCT APC Campaign Council, Musa Mohammed, the party’s candidates to the various offices in the upcoming general election as well as party supporters.
They were attacked on their way to the palace of the Sarkin Jiwa and again as they returned from the visit.
The timely intervention of the security personnel however, ensured that the situation did not get out of hand.
The hoodlums pelted the convoy with rocks, while about nine vehicles were set ablaze with petrol bombs and many others had their windscreens smashed.
Although no life was lost, a few people sustained varying degrees of injuries from the attack while other motorists were also not spared as their vehicles suffered serious damages.
The hoodlums had mounted a blockade around the Timber Market axis of the Dei Dei Road preventing the convoy from going to the palace of the Sarkin Jiwa.
This happened as a PDP rally was being held around the Dei Dei Timber Market.
However, they were forced to lift the blockade and disperse when the security detail attached to the office of the FCT Minister and others covering the event fired into the air.
The convoy was attacked a second time around the same spot as it returned from the palace, heading to the grand finale of the FCT APC campaign at the Old Parade Ground.
READ ALSO: Victory is yours, Oba of Lagos tells Buhari
It was at this point that nine vehicles were set ablaze and many others had their windscreens smashed. Again, the security operatives saved the day by firing several shots into the air to disperse the hoodlums which allowed the APC Campaign convoy to follow another route out of the area.
Reacting to the attack, the Director General, FCT APC Campaign Council, Musa Mohammed, described it as unfortunate, saying that intelligence suggested that the attack may have been planned.
He however dissociated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, supporters and ethnic elements from the attack.
He said; “I don’t consider it to be a crisis between two parties. It was a premeditated attack on the APC stalwarts, but we didn’t have a privy knowledge of what was awaiting us.
“It’s quite unfortunate that it happened. On our way going, we were attacked and of course, on our way coming back, we were also attacked. But as law abiding citizens, we retreated and took another route in order to avoid loss of lives.”
He lamented the destruction of vehicles in the convoy noting that the incident would be reported to the proper quarters to forestall a recurrence.
He also pointed out that the incident had thrown up the need to be security conscious and to make a security arrangements during and after the elections.
