Uhuru Samuel Adaji Jalingo 

The political atmosphere in Taraba State is becoming increasingly heated following reports of political violence amongst rival thugs

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC has accused governor Darius Ishaku of using State power to suppress and oppress opposition elements in the state, even as the Governor also accused the opposition of fomenting trouble, to wit violence.
Only recently the Governor was publicly humiliated in Donga, when he was booed by suspected opposition elements, only for a Chieftain of the APC, Sam Yakubu to have been reportedly brutalised, in the governor’s hometown of Takum.

National Trail gathered , that Mr. Sam Yakubu, Director General of the APC Senatorial Candidate, Hon. Danjuma Shidi was attacked and brutalized in Takum by thugs said to be loyal to Governor Ishaku on October 25.

An eyewitness in Takum further narrated that Policemen on the convoy of Governor Ishaku supervised while the thugs freely brutalized Yakubu who is considered a big threat to Ishaku’s aspiration to the Senate. 

Mr Aaron Artimas, publicity secretary of the APC in Taraba state  while reacting to the attack  on Mr Sam Yakubu in Jalingo on Thursday said it was disheartening that Governor, Darius Ishaku  the Chief Security of the state will condescend too low by allowing thugs loyal to him to carry out such a coordinated attack on a political opponent. 

Artimas who said that the attack which left Yakubu gravely injured, his Lexus SUV vandalized and other property carted away and his subsequent abduction by the security operatives who supervised the attack was not only disposable but also totally condemnable and a show of shame.

“Since Tuesday, the Social Media has been inundated with horrifying pictures of the brutalization of Mr Sam Yakubu JP, the Director general of APC Senatorial Candidate for Taraba South”, he explained. 

His car had also been substantially destroyed, ostensibly on the orders of some officials of the State Government, he said.

According to Artimas, immediate reports indicated that some party thugs emboldened by the presence of Governor Ishaku in Takum had attacked Mr Yakubu along Hospital Road, fully supported by a contingent of the police and other security agencies. 

He said the security agencies viciously and openly participated in battering their victim and smashing his car, a Lexus Jeep, while people watched helplessly. 

Artimas said that thereafter, Mr Yakubu was abducted and was stripped naked before being taken into police detention. 

“We understand that he had now been transferred to the State Police Command headquarters”, he further explained.

Artimas observed that whatever offence, Mr Yakubu might have committed beyond serving as the Director General of the Governor’s opponent in the Senatorial contest does not deserve or warrant such level of brutality, battery and grievous hurt. 

He said that the thugs believed to be members of the PDP taking advantage of the Governor’s visit, unleashed extreme terror in Takum town, pulling down Billboards, smashing vehicles and attacking identified members of APC on sight.

 “It is instructive to note that before the Governor’s visit, no PDP member had the effrontery or boldness to unleash such level of violence on political opponents and we are at complete loss as to how the political thugs will chose the occasion of their principal’s presence to engage in such barbaric, shameful and odorous behavior.

“We are therefore justified not only to blame the Governor for this infamy but also to conclude that they acted based on his instruction, given that uniformed policemen may not have participated directly in such act of brutality if they were not instructed to do so by higher authorities.

For the governor to superintend over the destruction of property and brutalization of citizens is beyond all shreds of imagination or explanation, he said.

“The conclusion from this primitive and cowardly act of violence is that Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku is afraid of the fate that awaits him during the coming Senatorial elections and is prepared to go to any length to intimidate and harass the people into yielding to his ambition”.

However, in a quick reaction, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Takum local government area Mr Boyi Manja said that the APC’s condemnation of the attack on Yakubu was an endorsement of thuggery.

Manja alleged that Yakubu is notorious for leading attacks on people in the past and the date that befell him was more a case of nemesis catching up with him.

“Our attention has been drawn to a press release by the campaign organization of Hon Danji Usman Shidi tagging the proactive measures taken by the security authority to nip the usual uncivil act of terror,  thuggery and brigandage often exhibited by one Samaila Yakubu and gangs as an act of “Intolerable Abuse of Power”. 

The chairman described as very unfortunate for the APC to support thuggery by saying that Samaila was whisked away by the police while his car was vandalized and valuables cartered away for no reason.

“As the Chief Security officer of Takum local government Council, I have on record how  Samaila once supervised the beating and vandalization of vehicle belonging to late Joe Fete and Hon. Baba Sampati by his thugs, leading to a worrisome trend where one of their victims was stripped in the presence of police and sympathizers who didn’t only besieged the scene but pleaded with the notorious gang leader to no avail. 

“Why should any sane person disrespect the office of the chief security officer of the state to that abysmal level? To say the worse, why shouldn’t Samaila and his thugs accord respect to even the elder statesman who was in Takum for such a great feat capable turning on the light of the town? It is unacceptable” Manja said.