Tragedy has struck the campaigns of Ondo State’s Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as one of his coordinators, Alaba Abbey, has been gunned down by yet unknown assailants.
Aiyedatiwa beat his 14 rivals to win the APC ticket at the primaries held on 20th April.
Aiyedatiwa scored 48,569 votes in the primary to beat his closest rival Mayowa Akinfolarin who polled 15,343 votes in the election, with Olusola Oke’s 14,865 votes bringing him the third position.
Abbey, who served as a Ward Coordinator for the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organization Foot-Soldiers (LACO-SF), was killed in his hometown of Supare Akoko, Akoko South West Local Government Area, on Saturday.
He was the returning officer for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in his Ward 10 in the recently concluded primary of the governing party.
Confirming the killing, Samuel Abbey, a younger brother to the deceased, said that his brother was shot at the front of his house in Supare.
“It is a sad development, my brother was assassinated in front of his house here in Supare. Our family are in pain right now,” he said.
Mrs. Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the spokesperson for the police in Ondo, confirmed the killing of Mr Abbey in a brief chat with reporters in Akure, on Sunday.
She revealed that the state command had launched an investigation into the brutal killings.
“We have begun an investigation into the case and we will unravel what led to his killing,” she said.
A statement by the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot-Soldiers (LACO-SF) has condemned Abbey’s murder.
According to the statement by the spokesperson for the campaign organisation, Kayode Fasua, called on police authorities in the state to protect its members from brutal attacks by assailants.
The election commission has fixed November 16, 2024 for the governorship election in the state.
The 19 participating parties are: All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, the Accord Party, the Action Alliance, the African Action Congress, the African Democratic Congress, the African Democratic Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
Others are the Allied Peoples Movement, the Action Peoples Party, the Boot Party, the Labour Party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, the National Rescue Movement, the Peoples Redemption Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Youth Party, the Young Progressives Party and the Zenith Labour Party.
