17th January, 2011
Those who think thuggery, hooliganism and money politics are fading out in the nation’s political arena should have to re-think. If the unpleasant scenarios witnessed in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, last week during parties’ primaries in the metropolis are anything to go by, we are in trouble.
The pervading peace in the metropolis was shattered as politicians stormed parties’ primary elections with thugs and hooligans. They also came with lots of money to induce delegates to vote for them.
In several areas of Lagos, there were protests by aggrieved party faithful, especially in the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, over cases of imposition of unpopular aspirants on the people.
The ACN primary election in the metropolis was described by an observer as uncoordinated. Poor crowd control, thuggery and other unpleasant scenarios marred the primaries to elect officers that will represent the party in the coming election into the State House of Assembly and the National Assembly.
The ACN Secretariat, Acme Road, Ogba, Lagos was like a theatre of war. Protesters earlier in the day protested the imposition of candidates on the people. By noon, the scene became chaotic and there was confusion everywhere. There was tension as thousands of people besieged the secretariat, wanting to gain entry into it at the same time.
Motorists plying Acme Road had a hell of a time. There were no sign that the road had been closed. Unwary motorists and commuters were engulfed by a crowd of delegates, thugs, law enforcement officers and politicians. Hundreds of motorists were trapped on the road. Motorists who got knowledge of the ugly scenario at the ACN secretariat quickly beat a retreat to escape being trapped.
An Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC was stationed along the road with hundreds of policemen on ground to provide security but the crowd overwhelmed the security operatives. They were simply uncontrollable. The road was later closed.
The entire stretch of Acme Road was choked with vehicles parked indiscriminately by party members. Commercial activities of several companies on Acme Road were disrupted by the primaries.
Hundreds of thugs could be seen in the area smoking Indian hemp openly and unchallenged. Cases of theft were rife.
The gate of the ACN secretariat was shut against thousands of delegates, party faithful and the rest. Some people fainted and had to be quickly resuscitated. A woman who almost suffocated was revived.
A truck carrying several mobile toilets was not allowed into the secretariat. For hours, the truck was at the gate waiting to get in but all to no avail. Several political thugs, thinking that the truck would be allowed into the secretariat climbed and hid themselves inside the truck so that they could gain access into the arena but their bid failed.
Policemen had a field day as they poured out their frustration on hapless citizens, beating them up. Some aspirants, delegates and thugs were seriously manhandled by the police who had hectic time controlling the surging crowd.
There were fears that a stampede was likely because the environment was tense. Some ACN faithful who could not bear the situation took their exit. The situation inside the secretariat was also tense. A journalist was beaten up by the police for not having an accreditation card.
Also, security inside the secretariat was tight as people were thoroughly searched to see if they were in possession of dangerous weapons. A man was arrested by the police when he was searched and charms were found on him. He was taken away and detained by the police.
There were shootings later in the night of the primaries by suspected thugs who might have come to the primaries with guns to unleash mayhem on the people.
Another side to the primaries was that before getting to the venue, posters of aspirants littered walls of the secretariat and walls of other companies advertising the aspirants. Supporters of certain candidates carried banners bearing the inscriptions of the candidates calling on people to cast their votes for their aspirants.
Several of them also wore Tee-shirts with the pictures of their candidates on them. Inside the secretariat, there was no space on the wall as aspirants had defaced them with posters and banners.
Officers of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA had hell of a time carting away the refuse that littered the entire stretch of Acme Road after the chaotic primaries. Party supporters had defaced the road with posters, pure water sachets, bottles, ice cream packs and the rest.
