By Jimoh Sulyman
The crisis rocking the ruling All progressives Congress, APC across Kwara state worsened last Wednesday as two splinter groups in the party at Arandun ward of Irepodun local government area of the state engaged in bloody clash which left several people severely injured. A blind man , identified as a member of one of the warring factions was beaten to state of coma. He survived but ended a permanent wheelchair rider. Sources disclosed to the National Pilot that the two warring groups belong to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq’s factions of the party, known as AA. The AA group has been identified as the arrow head of the crisis rocking the party in Kwara state for sometime now.
According to sources, hostility started brewing in the ward during the Ward Congresses that was held last year during which two stalwarts merely identified as Kunle and Seun battled for the ward chairmanship. Kunle, it was gathered, eventually emerged victorious allegedly with the backing of the state government, a development that did not go down well with the group led by Seun. This reportedly led to a Cold War between the two splinter groups.
Said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity “before the crisis started, there was a single APC secretariat at Arandun ward, but following the disputed congress, the secretariat split into two , headed separately by each of the warring stalwarts. The matter was taken to the palace for the king to settle, but it wasn’t successful.
“However, a meeting was held last Wednesday by the Kunle led executives but out of nowhere the group led by Seun stormed the meeting and started attacking the people there.
“There was a man named Olu who is blind. He was beaten to state of coma, was dragged on the floor,which led to him being hospitalized after he suffered a fracture on his arm and his back . He has now been condemned to the wheelchair for mobility. Apart from the beating he received, he was also robbed of almost five hundred thousand Naira.
“Police later came to arrest the attacker, led by Seun and they were taken to Omu Aran police station , but were granted bail with instructions that they report at the police station every morning.
“There is a plan for them to be taken to the State police headquarters in Ilorin where they’re going to be charged to court for prosecution.
“The Kunle camp are led by Mr Gbenga Awoyale who is the President of a socio-cultural group, Orisun Igbomina while the Seun camp are led by Lawyer Teju Oguntoye. The situation has been really ugly in our party.” the insider disclosed.
This recent occurrence is seen as a major setback for the Kwara APC as efforts are already being made across board to mend fences between warring factions as the party has been battling with internal skirmishes since its victory at the 2019 general elections.
