Thugs attack NDC supporters, disrupt Peter Obi’s town hall meeting in Lagos

The attack, which occurred around 11am on Thursday, November 12, at Oregun, Ikeja, disrupted proceedings and forced participants to flee as the attackers invaded the venue with weapons.

The hoodlums, armed with cutlasses, cudgels and stones, attempted to gain access to the main hall but were initially resisted by NDC supporters, TheCable reported.

The newspaper reported seeing the attackers approach from Kudirat Abiola Road in Oregun.

The assailants were reportedly heard discussing how to overpower the NDC supporters, with some asking their superiors for permission to invade the venue with guns.

However, the NDC supporters fought back, confronting the aggressors and preventing them from taking over the venue.

Videos shared online showed the NDC supporters resisting the suspected thugs, while one of the alleged attackers was apprehended by party members and beaten.

In another video reported by News Central, the arrested suspect denied being sponsored by anyone to attack the gathering, saying that he only came to the venue to beg for money.

Following the attack, videos circulated online showing groups of NDC supporters gathering on the streets around the venue.

Some of the supporters said they would protect Obi ahead of his expected visit to the town hall, while others vowed to resist further attempts to disrupt the gathering.

The videos showed NDC supporters remaining in the area despite the earlier violence, amid persistent concerns about the safety of the party’s presidential candidate and other members.

In another video shared by The Cable, some of the party backers were seeing repelling the machete-wielding thugs with stones and planks.

The Lagos State chapter of the NDC also shared a video showing the chaos at the venue and the confrontation between its members and the suspected assailants.

The party has, however, yet to issue an official statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The ICIR reached out to the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, for comments on the incident, the reported arrest and the alleged assault on the suspect. However, she neither answered calls nor responded to a WhatsApp message sent to her as at the time of filing this report.

The ICIR reports that the attack comes as political activities gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the NDC presenting Obi and Kwankwaso as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election. He secured more than six million votes nationwide, finishing third behind the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Bola Tinubu, who won the poll and is now seeking re-election.

Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, contested the 2023 presidential election under the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), polling about 1.5 million votes nationally.

The NDC subsequently adopted Obi as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election, with Kwankwaso as his running mate.

The tension in Lagos is heightened by Lagos State’s historical association with Tinubu, who governed the state from 1999 to 2007 and built a formidable political structure there before becoming president.

Lagos has traditionally been regarded as one of Tinubu’s strongest political bases and an APC stronghold.

However, Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos in the 2023 presidential election, polling 582,454 votes against the APC candidate’s 572,606 votes, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Thursday’s attack comes amid a series of violent incidents involving political gatherings and opposition figures in different parts of the country within the past week.

On November 4, suspected hoodlums attacked Obi’s convoy around Watt Market Roundabout in Calabar, Cross River State, as he returned from a visit to the palace of the Obong of Calabar.

The attackers, reportedly armed with machetes and sticks, smashed the windscreens of vehicles in the convoy.

The Cross River State Police Command subsequently announced the arrest of a 27-year-old suspect, identified as Victor Edet Yellow Duke, in connection with the incident. The police said efforts were ongoing to apprehend other suspects.

On November 7, violence also disrupted an NDC supporters’ rally organised by the Obidient/OK Movement along Nnebisi Road in Asaba, Delta State.

The incident left one person dead and several others injured, according to the Delta State Police Command, which said it had commenced an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the violence and identify those responsible.

On November 11, the convoy of the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate in Gombe State, Isa Ali Pantami, was also attacked by suspected political thugs.

The incident occurred around Jekadafari Road in Gombe as Pantami arrived in the state for a reception organised by the PDP following his emergence as the party’s governorship candidate.

Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M

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