Crime
Woman narrates ordeal in hands of political thugs, alleges murder plot
Mrs. Comfort Omowunmi Samuel is a politician of repute in her hometown of Ijebu-Ode where many address her as Iya Ewe (mother of many children) because of her philanthropism and popularity among youths in her community.
However, her trouble started when she decided to contest for the enviable position of the women leader of ward 8, Ijebu Ode alongside with one Mrs. Toyin Adebanjo under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 2015.
According to the woman who revealed that she is now afraid of safety, her woes started when she defeated Mrs. Toyin Adebanjo in the in-house election held in October, 2015, and was declared winner by the Chairman of her ward, Mr. Abbey Tiamiyu.
“Mrs. Toyin Adebanjo refused to accept defeat, and cooked up negative stories about me. She even said I was illiterate, and therefore not fit to be the women leader, but the Chairman, Tiamiyu insisted I won free and fair.
Speaking further, Mrs. Samuel explained that after several atrocities against her, Mrs. Toyin Adebanjo joined the All Progressives Congress in 2015, and contested the councillorship of the same ward 8 with her again in 2020.
“She intensified her attacks against my supporters and myself because she knew she couldn’t defeat me, and wanted the election postponed. My party Chairman, Mr. Abbey Tiamiyu reported different attacks of these sponsored thugs and hoodlums to the Divisional Police Officer at Igbeba Police station within Ijebu- Ode.
“The Chairman also wrote a petition letter to the State Commissioner of Police to report the attacks and the activities of these hoodlums against me and my political party at large.
“Also, the office of the election umpire, Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) was threatened by these political thugs to the extent that the returning officer reported the threat to the office of the State Commissioner of police.
According to her, despite the several reports made by her party to the Police, they failed to intervene ostensibly by orders from some top APC politicians in the state who colluded with INEC to cancel the election scheduled for Saturday 28th November, 2020.
“The intention was to frustrate me to abandon my political ambition. When that failed, they resulted in physical assault both on my properties and that of my supporters,” she added.
“Even my party secretariat was not spared from the sponsored attacks. My party secretariat in Ward 8 was attacked in broad daylight during stakeholders meeting on 17th November, 2020. It was widely reported, but no suspect was arrested nor paraded by the police for the heinous attack.”
“AD spokesman for my ward was killed during the attack. My house was attacked which forced me to relocate to my church for safety. The church was also threatened and I was advised to leave the town for my safety.
Madam Samuel explained that neither the Police nor the ruling party in the state, APC made any moves to protect her, hence her decision to cry out to the public for help.