A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, Mr. Kamoru Ogundare, has cried out for help over frequent threats to his life and those of his family members in the aftermath of the political hostility in his Okeigbo community in Ileoluji-Okeigbo Local
Kamoru, who said his ordeal has lasted a year, is currently in hiding, and has urged for assistance through his uncle, Alhaji Sumola Faremi, who spoke with our correspondent in Okeigbo over the weekend.
His uncle, Faremi, revealed that Ogundare’s ordeal dated to May 2022 when his principal whom he served as special assistant on politics and strategy, vied for the PDP ticket to run for the House of Representatives’ election in the federal constituency.
“There were seven other contestants along with Kamoru’s boss known as Honourable Olatunji Timothy Felder.
“Some of the contestants saw my nephew, Kamoru, as a strong pillar of support for his boss and as such felt that the best way to remove him as an obstacle was to get him killed.
“Shortly before the primary election which held on May 17, 2022, Kamoru told us that he received many death threats from these characters and that he even reported to the Police but that the cops felt it was a political matter that would not pose a serious danger.
“On the day of the election which held till midnight at Odigbo, hired thugs nearly killed Kamoru at the collation centre but for loyalists of his boss who rescued him out of the venue.
“But when the votes were eventually counted, Felder, Kamoru’s boss won at the poll, which was the beginning of crisis,” the septuagenarian uncle to Mr. Ogundare, recalled.
He went further that as Ogundare was travelling out of Okeigbo to Akure the state’s capital in the early hours, in his camry car, he was hotly chased by some gun-totting assassins riding on two commercial motorcycles popularly known as okada.
“It was in the attempt to escape the killer gang that his vehicle swerved into the bush and he had a serious accident where he sustained serious injuries and his car was also badly damaged.”
The attack reportedly took place between Aponmu and Olokuta community near Akure and the case was reported at the Fanibi Police Divisional headquarters in Akure, where investigations revealed that the attackers were politicians from Ogundare’s Ileoluji hometown.
Faremi recalled that Ogundare was rushed to an hospital in Akure where he spent many months before he recovered.
It was while Ogundare was in the hospital, that these hoodlums went to his house and set it ablaze, apparently since they did not know his whereabouts.
He said despite this, his nephew’s traducers had ever since, been on his trail, in the belief that he is a threat to their political acceptance in Okeigbo and environs, for as long as he is still alive.
He said while the case had been lodged with the police, any action to protect his nephew has still to be taken, making him (Ogundare) to go into hiding along with other members of his family.
