A chilling historical account has resurfaced detailing a wave of targeted killings and brutal assaults in 2012 that forced several People’s Democratic Party (PDP) local delegates into a decade of hiding.
The violence is reportedly rooted in a December 2011 reconciliation meeting held at the Premier Hotel in Ibadan, where several delegates allegedly witnessed a high-profile killing involving a top-tier politician. This witness testimony set off a deadly chain of events that claimed the lives of Kayode Philips, Femi Austin, and Ugo Ozuah, while leaving others like Olatunji Egbeyemi and Gbenga Adewuyi in a permanent state of flight.
The first major strike occurred on March 17, 2012, at an Opebi bus stop in Ikeja. Eyewitnesses described a scene of terror when a minivan carrying armed men suspected to be plainclothes officers working for corrupt political interests ambushed a group of young men waiting for transport. For fifteen minutes, the area was rocked by gunfire and physical assaults, leaving Kayode Philips and Femi Austin dead at the scene.
While three men managed to escape the initial carnage, the survivors remained marked targets. Months later, on September 20, 2012, one of the escapees, Ugo Ozuah, was tracked down and reportedly killed by armed men, though Olatunji Egbeyemi and Gbenga Adewuyi managed to evade their pursuers yet again.
The collateral damage of these political assassinations extended to the families of the survivors. Mr. Sanusideen Oladele Egbeyemi, the father of Olatunji Egbeyemi, reportedly suffered a series of relentless attacks by unknown gunmen over several years.
Despite numerous pleas for protection, the Nigeria Police Force was unable to provide security, and Mr. Egbeyemi eventually succumbed on March 19, 2019, to injuries and health complications sustained during these repeated assaults.
As the perpetrators of the original 2012 violence remain at large, the surviving delegates continue to live in the shadows, highlighting a grim chapter of political violence and the long-term failure of the justice system to protect witnesses.