Posted by Adedibu, Akala behind attack on my house - Ladoja on
Immediate past governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, has fingered his estranged political godfather, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and his successor in office, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala as the brain behind the attack on his private residence in Ibadan.
The former governor's accusation is coming on the heels of police dismissal of reports that three persons were killed during the gun duel between those who invaded Ladoja's house and security personnel attached to the residence.
In an e-mail message posted to newsmen by Ladoja's Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Prince Ade Adekanmbi, the former governor also called on police authorities to institute a high-powered enquiry into the attack.
He called on the Inspector General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, to withdraw the mobile policemen attached to Adedibu as well as the former members of the Oyo State House of Assembly, alleging that Adedibu had been hiding under the cover of police protection to perpetrate violence in the state.
Describing the attack on his house as "cowardly," the former governor accused both Adedibu and Alao-Akala of being desperate to govern the state and thereby "ready to use all means to cow the people of the state to submission for them to continue to perpetrate arson and insecurity and lead the state to oblivion."
Ladoja said that he does not need the crocodile tears of Gov Alao-Akala over the incidence, adding that the governor and Adedibu had no moral right to rule the people of Oyo State since they have decided to hold the people hostage, inflicting untold hardship on them by destroying their lives and properties.
In a swift reaction, however, an aide of Adedibu, Alhaji Babatunde Olayiwola, absolved the politician and Gov Alao-Akala of blame in the attack, saying there was no contending issue again between the duo and Ladoja.
Said he: "What is between Baba (Adedibu), Akala and Ladoja now that they would want to attack him? Is he the one that took them to the tribunal? If what happened was against Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the governorship candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), we can say it is because he took Akala and his party, the PDP to the tribunal. But Ladoja has no case at the tribunal.
"On Ladoja's call that policemen attached to Baba should be withdrawn, we will beg to say no. Baba's life is precious to us. And that call is also a pointer that they want to attack the old man. You know he has been attacked thrice without success. So, we believe the police will not listen to them."
Governor Alao-Akala's Special Adviser on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, also described Ladoja's allegation as "flimsy and mischievous," urging him to await for the report of police investigation on the incident.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Police Command has dismissed media reports on the attack, saying nobody died during the gun duel.
In a release issued by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Mr Olu Akinmoladun, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), the police described the report of the incident as "misleading and false."
In a telephone chat with Daily Sun, Akinmoladun disclosed that investigations into the incident had not been concluded, adding that nobody has come forward to offer any useful information about the attack.