By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A group within the Osun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, loyal to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has accused Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s faction of attacking its members.

A statement by the leader of the group known as, The Osun Progressives (TOP), Mr Lowo Adebiyi in Osogbo on Monday condemned the attack on its members in Ife East Local Government of the state on Sunday evening.

“The attack was unprovoked and uncalled for. It is an attempt by the Governor’s group IleriOluwa and the fifth columnist to distract TOP members from the noble pursuit of reworking the party.

“The growing desperation of the Governor’s group has made it to become as dangerous as the fifth columnist it harbours, and thus attack some of their own progressive folks.

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“The attacks on the APC members are detrimental to the interest of APC and indeed confirm TOP’s stated disquiet within the fold. The Governor’s group is becoming intolerable, its steps and actions will surely bear dire consequences in the end”, said Adebiyi.

The immediate past APC chairman who noted that the attacks are becoming too many stated that the security agents have a duty to protect all citizens, including APC members who have different views from those in government and therefore should act dispassionately.

“There has not been a cogent attempt or effort at curbing the fore-warned attacks by the desperate IleriOluwa group and its allies, despite that many of such had been reported to the security agents in the state.

“It is also unfortunate that Governor Oyetola who is the Chief Security Officer of the state is always claiming ignorance of all the violent attacks on APC members and no culprit is ever fished out.

“While The Osun Progressives will not hesitate to allege bias on the path of the security agencies, we state that our leaders were the ones arrested and arraigned in court for clear massive attacks on us at the party Secretariat on August 14, 2021, where we had gone to present our appeal to a committee for that purpose and for which members without petitions should not be there”, Adebiyi submitted.

Vanguard News Nigeria