There was pandemonium yesterday as three people were killed and many , iinjured at the kick-off of the campaign of the Lagos State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which held at the Skypower field, GRA Ikeja, yesterday.
Among those that were injured was a popular executive member of The National Union of Road Transport Workers Association ( NURTW) , Oluomo .
The campaign was supposed to commence at 10am but it eventually started by 12:30pm after the arrival of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Sanwo-Olu. The national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, was absent.
Before the commencement of the event, 63 out of the 91 political parties in the country endorsed Sanwo-Olu for governor. A few minutes into Ambode’s speech, a shot was fired by one of the thugs who stood close to the music stand and it was immediately followed by multiple gunshots from party supporters and police officers as those in attendance took cover.
It could not be ascertained what led to the pandemonium, but it was observed that a fight broke out among some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who were standing close to Alabi Pasuma’s music stand, and in the process, one of the union’s executive members, Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, was badly injured.
Despite the chaos and stampede caused by the gunshots, Ambode continued with his speech while accusing “the other party” of being responsible for the commotion. He appealed to Lagosians to vote for the APC to ensure continuity.
As the pandemonium intensified, Sanwo-Olu took over the microphone and gave a vote of thanks, but by this time, the field was almost empty. Many people, including journalists, were injured by the shots that were fired. The group political editor of The Nation newspaper, Mr. Emmanuel Oladesu, New Telegraph correspondent, Temitope Ogunbanke, and Ibile Television cameraman, Abiodun Yusuf, were among the injured.
