The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday alleged a threat to the life of one of its chieftains, Professor Rafiu Durodoye, by some people in Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration.
The APC, in a statement by its Director of media and information, Kola Olabisi, alleged that Prof Durodoye was threatened for criticising the state governor during a radio interview in Ibadan.
Olabisi said the US-based professor received threat messages through anonymous telephone calls since he granted the interview.
But in a swift reaction, the deputy spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Mr Oladele Bamiji, dismissed the allegations, noting that Prof Durodoye was only seeking undue attention.
The APC said the Osogbo-born politician narrowly escaped assassination on the day he travelled back to the United States from Nigeria, describing the development as an act of wickedness.
“The APC governorship aspirant disclosed that since his criticism of Governor Adeleke and his government, he had received threat messages through anonymous telephone calls from no fewer than five persons from the ancient town of Ede, the hometown of the governor.
“Prof Durodoye also disclosed that some daredevil gun-wielding political thugs who owned up to acting at the instance of the Osun State Government had tried fruitlessly to attack or kill the APC governorship aspirant without luck, as they were always missing their target.
“Durodoye stated further that he narrowly escaped his assassin’s bullets on the day he travelled back to the United States of America when the vehicle which took him to the airport in Lagos was blocked by some gun-wielding men at the last junction to his house in Osogbo, who thought he was still in the vehicle,” the statement noted.
However, Bamiji in his reaction, said the APC was only trying to divert attention, adding that Governor Adeleke would not allow anyone to truncate the peace and bring violence into the state.
Bamiji said, “We don’t have any record of his election or electoral value in Osun State University to warrant anybody trying to pursue his life. As far as we are concerned, Prof. Durotoye was seeking undue attention to perhaps pave the way for himself in the politics of the state under the APC.
“Anybody saying that the government is after Prof Durodoye is just trying to divert attention from the real issues we have on ground in the state today, which is the arrest of the killer squad of the APC who were masterminds of those who murdered PDP members in the state.”
Follow the OSUNDOTLIFE channel on WhatsAppKindly share this story | All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from OSUNDOTLIFE.
Contact: editor@osun.life
WhatsApp: 📲 +2348092333666