Samuel Alonge
War of words is currently going on in Gombe State between supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in Nafada community over last week’s clash.
The state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, claimed that Thursday’s final rally of the APC resulted in the destruction of public utilities worth over N500 million and that the party imported political thugs into Gombe, from adjourning states.
But the APC sneered at the claim, saying PDP thugs actually launched attacks on its members.
Dankwambo, who expressed disappointment that many government properties were either set ablaze or vandalised by thugs at Nafada, the hometown of the PDP governorship candidate, Alhaji Bayero Nafada, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call his party members in the state to order.
Dankwambo spoke with The Nigerian Express through his Senior Special Assistant on Press Affairs, Alhaji Junaid Abubakar Usman, saying that during the invasion, no fewer than 30 people were injured and are now in critical condition in various hospitals.
“The APC has been disrupting the existing peace in Gombe since they began their rallies. However, on Thursday, during their last rally, they went extra violent, as they not only pulled down Nafada and Dankwambo’s billboards and destroyed his posters, but also went to the extent of destroying public properties.
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“They set ablaze many private and government vehicles, burned down houses and damaged so many public infrastructure that will take government over N500 million to restore.
“Gombe has been a peace-loving state since Governor Dankwambo came into power, but the APC has now disrupted the peace, creating an atmosphere of fear wherever they go on campaign.
“Since Governor Dankwambo came into power, all the thugs he met on ground have been reformed and given jobs and are now living decent lives. You can see some of them in uniforms on the road as marshals. Definitely, the thugs that the APC brought are from outside the state,” Abubakar claimed.
The governor’s aide also described enlisting of former Governor Danjuma Goje by the APC to lead its campaigns as counter-productive. According to him, “When Goje was the governor of Gombe State, he could not go to jumat service on Fridays for fear of being stoned by the people.”
But in a swift reaction, the state’s APC described the governor’s claims as concocted lies to attract sympathy.
Speaking with The Nigerian Express, APC publicity secretary in the state, Mrs. Naomi Jewel Awak, said: “Our rallies throughout the 11 local government areas in the state have been very peaceful; peaceful to the extent that we did not even match a lizard.”
She said it was the PDP thugs that launched attacks on the APC members in Nafada.
“The vehicles they destroyed are still there for everyone to see, while we rushed our injured members to the hospital,” she said.
Awak declared that her party would win the coming elections, as some key figures in the state’s PDP had defected to the APC.
She also praised former Governor Goje whom she said “worked hard for the APC, being the political godfather in Gombe.”