Political thugs numbering about 20 Wednesday invaded the Labour House, beside the state High Court complex, Ilorin, where members of a faction of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were holding a press conference.
The thugs forced their way into the Labour House owned by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and attacked the conveners of the meeting.
The factional chairman of the SDP in the Ifelodun local government area, Elder James Olajide, was beaten and his cloth torn, his cap seized and was dragged on bear floor.
The thugs kept shouting on the man, “Baba Ifelodun, why did you take money from AA to destroy our party?”
The thugs also beat and drove away an elderly man who was walking with the aid of a walking stick.
On Tuesday, the publicity secretary of a faction of the SDP, led by Kareem Akanbi, had announced the suspension of eight members from the party, signalling a leadership crisis within the party.
The conveners of Wednesday press conference were some of the people suspended for alleged anti-party activities.
Before the disruption of the press conference at the Labour House, the factional chairman of the SDP, Ibrahim Yahaya, had alleged plans by some former members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who recently joined the party to hijack it from the pioneer executives of the party.
“It is no longer news that a faction of the APC in Kwara (i.e. APC Loyal) formally applied to join our party, the SDP via a letter to SDP national secretariat dated 9th March, 2022.
“The national secretariat of SDP acknowledged the APC letter and their intention to join the SDP in Kwara state with a promise to work on a harmonisation arrangement on how their interests will be accommodated.
“While the original SDP members in Kwara state under my leadership were waiting for further directives from national secretariat, we were shocked to hear about a purported state congress of Kwara SDP held on 26th April, 2022. It was stagemanaged by the Kwara APC loyal group in collaboration with some officials of SDP national secretariat.”
