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The crisis rocking the administration of local government areas(LGAs) and local council development areas(LCDAs) in Oyo State took a dangerous dimension on Wednesday as the executive chairman of Afijio local government area , Hon. Samuel Aderemi, was reportedly abducted by rampaging thugs, who stormed the council in an attempt to prevent the sacked chairman and his councillors from resuming.
It was gathered that Aderemi, after being beaten by the hoodlums, was whisked away in a bus to an unknown destination.
He was however rescued two hours later by security agents, and is said to be recuperating at an undisclosed hospital.
Similar scenarios played out in Ibadan North and Ibadan North East LGAs and Omi Apata LCDA where thugs had a field day, unleashing mayhem on the council secretariats.
Despite the presence of security agents comprising the men of Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, injuries were inflicted on party members of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), who engaged in free- for-all.
Trouble started on Monday when the sacked chairmen and councillors made good their threat to resume at their respective LGAs and LCDAs.
According to reports, majority of the sacked council bosses had resumed at their various offices.
However, there were pockets of violence in Ibadan South East and Ibadan North East LGAs where it was alleged that some hoodlums reportedly led by a factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, Alhaji Lamidi Mukaila a.k.a. Auxiliary, hijacked the situation.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye maintained that chairmen were ready to cooperate with Makinde to move the state forward at the grassroots level.
In a statement on Wednesday, Hon. Abass-Aleshiloye stated that ALGON members had employed all peaceful and legal options to reclaim their mandates.
He added that their resolve to resume at their offices was premised on Supreme Court judgement which declared that no governor has the right to unjustly dissolve elected chairmen.
Abass-Aleshiloye, who urged local government workers to resume to their various offices, urged the people of the state to remain law abiding and not to panic. He said that all efforts by the sacked chairmen to meet Governor Makinde have been unfruitful.
The ALGON boss said it was unfortunate that it is only Makinde that remained adamant in returning elected local government chairmen in his state, stressing that local government chairmen who were illegally sacked in Ogun, Ekiti, and Kwara have been returned.