Kogi poll: Faleke, Bello supporters clash in Abuja

John Alechenu, Abuja

There was an outbreak of violence at the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress between supporters of Yahaha Bello and James Faleke on Monday.



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Stones, sticks and other missiles were freely thrown by thugs who broke through Police barricades in an attempt to force their way into the party headquarters.

As the clashes progressed, party leaders were meeting behind closed doors on the crisis over the choice of a replacement for the late Abubakar Audu.

Although, what triggered the violence was still sketchy as of the time of filing this report, it was learnt that a verbal altercation between two rival supporters led to a free for all.

Several vehicles were vandalised and no fewer than five persons were injured, some policemen assisted in carrying one of the badly injured person to an undisclosed health facility.

Police reenforcements were later brought in to restore order.

The meeting of the party leaders, members of the National Working Committee and the two contenders for the governorship ticket, Yahaya Bello and James Faleke was still on as of 4:20pm.

Those at the meeting included: Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Senators Dino Melaye and Mohammed Ohiare and members of the John 0digie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee.

Others at the meeting included some members of the Kogi State House of Assembly.

An angry party leader who pleaded not to be mentioned because of the sensitivity of the matter blamed the party leadership for the crisis.

He said, “We could have handled this better. Why didn’t we call the two men together earlier? Why would you decide on a candidate before calling a meeting of the two parties?

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“If you are Faleke, how will you feel when you first read about the party’s decision in the papers before the party calls you for discussions? There should be some respect for crying out loud.”

Punch NG