The Ijebu-Igbo home of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) senatorial candidate for Ogun East, Alhaji Adegbenga Kaka, was on Wednesday night attacked by hoodlums.
Fifteen vehicles and 17 motorcycles were destroyed.
Kaka and 60 of his supporters narrowly escaped death.
Sources said 12 gunmen, described as ‘’sponsored political thugs’’, invaded Kaka’s home and unleashed terror on the household for 45 minutes.
Kaka said the gunmen shot their way into the compound about 7:30 pm.
Among vehicles damaged were: Mercedes Benz C240 No. KK01 JGB and Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) No. KK02 JGB.
A Honda car No. RE 929 AAA belonging to Mr. Kehinde Hacco, Ogun East coordinator of Team Ribadu, was also damaged.
Members of the team were meeting with the candidate when the incident occurred.
Other vehicles destroyed were a Corolla car No. FR 629 LSR; Honda (LH 02 KJA); Nissan (LF 451 EKY); Toyota Camry (KL 461 EKY); Mitsubishi SUV (DC 833 JJJ) and Honda SUV (FW 424 LND).
Also damaged by the hoodlums were: a Nissan No. AE 362 ABG; Corolla No. CE 471 JJJ; three of Kaka’s campaign buses and the personal car of Mr. Sylvester Abiodun, a House of Assembly candidate of the ACN.
Sympathisers, mostly ACN supporters, condemned the attack as barbaric and wicked.
They rained curses on perpetrators of the dastardly act.
Kaka said: “I just returned from Ago-Iwoye where I had gone to campaign.
‘’I was holding a meeting with my supporters and the Team Ribadu people.
‘’Some were inside my Mosque praying when I heard gunshots.
‘’Initially, I did not take it serious because I felt it could be by those troublesome boys.
‘’It was shortly after that I realised that I was wrong. For 45 minutes, we were held hostage.
‘’Everyone scurried for safety. Some of my supporters hid under the bed and chairs. Some scaled the fence. Three got injured.
“I made calls to the Police Commissioner and the Area Commander, nobody picked.
‘’I could not reach the Divisional Police Officer. I deliberately begged my people to remain calm because we would have been picking dead bodies after the attack.
‘’But I thank God that no one died.
Asked if he suspected any anyone, Kaka said: “It is not a matter of suspecting anybody; they were the Omo Ilu Boys. I know them. I even saw them; they were led by one known as Seun Eniba. Another one called Yellow Skin was also among them.
‘’Everyone knows how deadly they are in the town. Their sponsors are cowards, who are intimidated by my acceptance.’’
‘’It is either they want to scare my people off the polling booths or they are angry that I recently ensured the arrest of some of them caught with the voters cards. But they can’t succeed because our people are tired of them.”
Kaka, a former deputy governor of the state, said: “It did not come as a surprise.
‘’Two days ago when I got a hint that it might happen, I alerted the police commissioner and asked for four police men.
‘’He asked me to write to him and I did. He minuted on it to the Area Commander, but as we speak, nothing has come out of it.”
Abiodun confirmed the identities of Eniba and Yellow Skin, saying: “I know them and they know me. They even saw me outside.
‘’They greeted me as they passed by, but it did not occur to me that they would return. Even when they were shooting, I hid somewhere, watching them. It was a moment of horror.”
Ahmed Ogunlaja, a member of Team Ribadu, described the attack as unprovoked, adding that such acts of violence must be discouraged.
“It was a bad moment; I forced myself under a chair ,” he said.
The Area Commander of Ijebu-Ode, Bolaji Odesanya, who led his men to the scene yesterday, said: “We are going to arrest the perpetrators and charge them to court.”
