Some armed men suspected to be assassins have attacked the convoy of Tajudeen Adefisoye, a federal lawmaker from Ondo State.
Adefisoye, who is representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency of Ondo State at the National Assembly, was attacked on Monday in his hometown of Idanre while returning from a private function.
It was gathered that the convoy of the federal lawmaker, who is also a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was riddled with bullets as the gunmen directly aimed at his vehicle.
Confirming the dastardly attack in a statement, Adefisoye accused the members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being behind the violent attack.
The lawmaker, who is seeking re-election for a second term at the parliament, specifically accused his main challenger in the race, Festus Akingbaso, of the PDP, of masterminding the attack.
He added that he had already petitioned the Brigade Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, in Akure following the attack.
“The assailants were hired by the PDP candidate (Mr Akingbaso) for the House of Representatives. They shot directly at my vehicle but I thank God I was able to escape and have reported the case to the police and the Nigeria Army for investigation,” Mr Adefisoye said in the statement.
But reacting, Mr Akingbaso popularly known as “FessyWest” denied the allegations linking him to the violent attack.
The PDP candidate, in a press statement issued by his campaign organisation, described the allegation as baseless and unfounded.
He noted that the allegation was a “deceit” allegedly conjured by Mr Adefisoye to malign his personality due to his (Akingbaso’s) rising popularity in the federal constituency, ahead of the election.
“We categorically assert that we have no involvement in this incident and the mention of our campaign team in this unfortunate incident is nothing but a deliberate attempt to smear our good name in the mud, one which we shall continue to protect at all cost.
“This latest development is another obvious attempt by the accusers to evade the scrutiny of the police and DSS, who are currently investigating him (Adefisoye) and his team for violence which occurred a few days ago in which many members of the PDP were attacked and injured,” Mr Akingbaso added in the statement released by his campaign team.
Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the police spokesperson in Ondo confirmed the attack, saying an investigation had begun into the case.
