2023: Obi Supporter’s Hand Amputated Following Attack

The hand of one of the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has been amputated following attack by hoodlums during the party’s presidential rally in Lagos.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Director General of Obi/Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, while making appearance on Channels Television programme, “The 2023 Verdict”.

At least four supporters of Obi, were on February 11, injured when hoodlums attacked them on their way to the party’s presidential rally, which held at the Tafawa Balewa Square.

Reacting to the attack in a statement, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, had said that the injured persons had been given medical attention.

According to Hundeyin, the DPO of Ilasan Division where the case was reported had commenced preliminary investigations while the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), was to fully take over investigations.

Osuntokun said that Labour Party has been at receiving end in terms of voters’ suppression, adding that he was not fully confident in the preparation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding the Saturday’s presidential election.

There have been reports of election-related violence in several states including Lagos, Rivers, and Kaduna states. According to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), , over 4,000 cases of violent attacks and 11,000 fatalities were reported across the country between January 1, 2022 and February 3, 2023 alone.

“I won’t score the preparation a 100 per cent, there are some factors that challenge that conclusion. The predisposition to voter suppression through violence, we have been a victim of that especially in Lagos.

“INEC people actually responded to people looking for their PVCs discriminatorily and when we had the rally in Lagos, our supporters were prevented in certain areas from coming to the Tafawa Balewa Square and some of them were injured. As we speak one of them has had his hand amputated.

“So when you take these into consideration, you cannot be confident that this is going to work well,” he said.

Osuntokun also expressed worry over the recent judgement of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal on Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), saying: “And as I remarked once the fact that the BVAS or the electronic transmission introduction to the system is supposed to preclude the possibility of over-voting, but according to the judgement of the tribunal on the Osun State election that was conducted a while ago, the tribunal nullified the victory of the PDP on account of over-voting, now were does that come in?”