News Investigators/ The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, on Monday, embarked on a protest march across major roads in Ibadan over the alleged victimisation of its lawmaker, Ibraheem Shittu.
Mr Shittu (APC- Saki West State Constituency), a lawmaker in the Oyo State House of Assembly, had a fortnight ago raised alarm over an approval granted to Gov. Seyi Makinde by the legislative to secure a controversial N300 billion loan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protest, which began at the party’s secretariat in Oke Ado, drew large turnout of APC members and supporters, led by the State Chairman, Alhaji Olayide Abas.
The protesters, who carried placards and chanted solidarity songs, marched from the party’s secretariat at Oke Ado to Dugbe, Mokola and back to Oke-Ado , demanding immediate protection for Shittu.
The APC chairman said that the lawmaker had since raising the alarm had received several threat messages, prompting fears for his safety, thus sparking the protest.
Abas insisted that the protest was to express solidarity with Shittu, describing him as courageous for standing against what the party termed “reckless borrowing.”
“We are here to tell the governor not to send Oyo into perpetual debt. What happened to earlier loans?” Abas asked while addressing journalists at the secretariat.
He said the APC would not fold its arms while its member is allegedly harassed, stressing that the party was fully behind Shittu’s stance against the loan deal.
“I have the protest letter here, he should not be victimised.”
The APC chairman vowed to resist any attempt to silence opposition voices, declaring that “the process to take over Oyo has started.”
NAN reports that the protest was monitored by security operatives including the police to prevent its hijack by hoodlums.
NAN
