October 16 Mayhem At Ake Palace: Hoodlums confess to Police: "Hon. Mikky Kazeem (former SSA to Sen. Ibikunle Amosun and Ex member of House of Reps) Sponsored Us, Gave Us Guns"!

 

The immediate past governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and one of his aides have been fingered in the crisis that occurred at the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo during a factional congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state on Saturday October 16.

Security sources within the state revealed that the ex-governor and his henchman, one Honourable Mikky Kazeem, a former member of the House of Representatives is currently being investigated by the police over the ugly incident.

The police had on Monday paraded about six suspected thugs alleged to be loyalists of the former governor.

The suspected hoodlums were said to have confessed to the Police that Hon. Mikky Kazeem, a former SSA to Amosun sponsored them and gave them the guns and other ammunition found on them.

While parading the suspects:

Ibrahim Amoje, Yusuf Afeez, Olaide Sodiq, Adewale Ogundele, Femi Oke and Balogun Olawale Dhikrullai, the police had said that a British Beretta pistol and a locally made gun were found on them.

The mayhem was said to have left a number of people injured.

Sources revealed that the attack in Ake Palace was arranged by the loyalists of former governor Amosun to appear as if it was from the camp of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the state.

“The strategy has failed. Why would Governor Abiodun send hoodlums to attack a congress that was not given recognition. The Governor didn’t need that as it was known to all that the state exco from the Governor would be recognised.

“But the police are investigating the matter and we will all know the culprits after they have concluded their investigations which will come in a few days.

“Amosun is a desperate man, who just wanted to foment trouble, when he knows that he has lost out completely in the scheme of things as far as the APC is concerned in Ogun State,” said a source close to the former Governor.

When contacted on the telephone, the PPRO of the Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi said that the police were still investigating the matter and that the arrested suspects have been making useful information and that the police would make their findings known to members of the public at the appropriate time.

“We are still investigating the case and the suspects arrested have been giving useful information. At the appropriate time we will make our investigations known to members of the public.”,Oyeyemi stated.

However, Hon. Mikky Kazeem did not pick calls made to his telephone lines to state his own side of the story over the allegations made against him. We even heard from sources close to him that he has gone underground.

It will be recalled that while the Ogun State chapter of the party held it’s Congress in MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, a faction of the party, loyal to Amosun, held a parallel congress at the Palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo in Abeokuta.

We were informed that this was contrary to the directives of the national caucus of the APC, which gave recognition to only the executives of the party across the states that are loyal to the incumbent Governors or the highest political office holders in the states that are not being ruled by the party.

It was gathered that with this, the likes of Senator Ibikunle Amosun have lost out in the power tussle in their states.

The APC faction loyal to Governor Dapo Abiodun has since been given recognition by the national caucus of the party as the incumbent Governor.

The faction loyal to Senator Amosun had elected Chief Derin Adebiyi as the chairman.

But Chief Yemi Sanusi emerged as the Chairman of the faction supported by the incumbent Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

It will however be recalled that there was tension at the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, on Saturday October 16, when hoodlums stormed the venue of the state congress of the APC faction loyal to Amosun.

Gunmen broke into the venue, which was being used by the faction, shortly before the exercise commenced.

Hundreds of persons, including security operatives, scampered for safety amid the pandemonium.

The crowd of party supporters later threw stones at the hoodlums, who later fled the scene.

Apparently aggrieved that the security agents, including Police, NSCDC operatives, did not resist the hoodlums, the APC members, mostly youths, charged towards the security men and chased them away.

However, the security personnel, who ran momentarily, turned against the aggrieved youths, shooting into the air to resist further attacks.

The matter, we gathered, has further “shown that former governor Amosun is an enemy of the Ogun State APC despite the fact that he won a seat to the senate in 2019 through the party.”