What would have amounted as tragedy was averted in the Ikosi-Isheri area of Lagos State on Wednesday when the Police rescued a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abiodun Sunmola, from angry youths in the area.
However the party chieftain had been beaten to a pulp before rescue came his way.
Chief Sunmola, who is not a resident of the area, had visited the venue of the re-scheduled primary election for Kosofe Constituency 2 in the state following a stalemate in the exercise that was marred by violence on Tuesday.
However, the result obtained by Huhuonline.com on Wednesday afternoon showed that the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Dr. Ajibayo Adeyeye, lost in the primary held for the constituency.
In the election, Tunde Buraimoh scored 230 votes to beat Adeyeye who had 173 votes, Olojo Kosoko, who scored just one vote and Oluwole Ogunleye, who scored three votes.
As early as 7am on Wednesday, youths and delegates from the constituency had filled the venue of the exercise.
Huhuonline.com learnt that Pa Sunmola, who is a very respectable politician in the state, later arrived at the venue, explaining that he was there to observe the situation. But the already angry youths would not take his explanation, feeling that he was there to influence results. While some youths beat him up, others drenched him with water.
Others chanted songs calling him “thief” as they believed he must have received money from one of the contestants to influence the result or outcome of the exercise.
The tension led the police at the scene to order for reinforcement. The Police shot in the air and even used tear gas to scare the youths who resisted. An armoured personnel carrier and about 15 police vans were later deployed to the venue.
Many of the delegates who could not find their way into the venue as a result of tight security resorted to scaling the fence. Some of them were arrested for this.
