Men with sticks, machetes and axes rushed into a hall full of Peter Obi supporters in Lagos on Thursday, scattering the crowd and beating journalists, according to witnesses and his party, who spoke to AFP. Nigeria's presidential vote is two months away.
Sam Adebanjo, a journalist from TheCable, was beaten and attacked with an axe. His equipment was stolen, his outlet reported. He was there to do a job. He got an axe for it.
Who Gets Crushed
Photojournalist Mansur Ibrahim was at the scene. "They actually came into the hall, broke all the entrance doors and the glass walls," he told AFP. The attackers arrived before Obi did, he said. The NDC guys "repelled them, chased them out of the hall into the road, and they started throwing stones at each other in the middle of the road."
One supporter, forehead wrapped in bloodied bandages, spoke to local media in a clip shared with AFP. "See my head, they broke my head with (a) bottle but it's nothing, I'm still standing," he said. He blamed APC supporters for trying to intimidate the opposition, "thinking that we will back down." He wasn't named. The people who take the bottles to the skull rarely are.
Videos on social media showed the armed men charging into the hall in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, which chanted "APC must go."
Who Has the Power
The men who do this work have a local name. "Thugs," they're called, and AFP notes they often have links to rival politicians. Elections in Africa's most populous country are repeatedly marred by violence from these hired muscle crews. Politicians fight over the state's keys; the people in the hall bleed for it.
Osa Director, spokesman for Obi's Nigeria Democratic Congress, blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress. "Nobody is going to intimidate us, we will exercise our right to participate in this election," he told AFP.
The APC denied it. Spokesman Felix Morka said: "When a person makes an allegation, it is their duty to substantiate and provide evidence."
The same duty, apparently, doesn't extend to men with axes.
What They're Calling "Order"
Thursday's violence follows NDC claims that a string of event cancellations was the government's doing, with venue owners allegedly pressured to shut the doors. The government denied that too.
The pattern runs wider. Atiku Abubakar, who finished second in 2023, faces legal challenges over his 2027 candidacy. His campaign blames the government for the lawsuit. The ruling party denies it.
So the menu reads like this. Cancelled venues, denied. Lawsuits, denied. Axes in the hall, denied. Every allegation lands on the same desk, stamped with the same word. President Bola Tinubu, who beat Obi in 2023 when Obi came third, is seeking a second term in the January 16 vote.
The Ballot Box and the Machete
Both sides are asking ordinary people to line up for a vote on January 16, and both sides' camps are accused of fighting with fists, stones and blades beforehand. Whichever faction wins, the thugs go back to waiting for the next contract and the journalist goes home without his equipment.
The election promises a choice between men who have each run for the top job before. The injured supporter's choice was simpler. Stay in the hall or leave it. He said he's still standing.
- peter obi
- nigeria democratic congress
- all progressives congress
- lagos
- campaign violence
- nigeria election
- bola tinubu
- journalist attack