Armed Thugs Invade Accord Party Meeting In Kuje, Injure One, Destroy Chairs, Campaign Materials

Political tension in Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), heightened on Sunday after suspected thugs allegedly armed with cutlasses attacked a political gathering of the Accord Party, forcing participants to flee the venue.

The attackers reportedly disrupted the meeting, destroyed campaign materials, tables and chairs, while at least one person was said to have sustained injuries during the incident.

The incident reportedly occurred while the FCT Accord Party youth leader was addressing party youths at the gathering in Kuje.

Sources familiar with the development said the meeting had barely commenced when the suspected thugs arrived at the venue with cutlasses and allegedly began attacking participants.

The attackers were said to have chased people away from the venue before smashing tables, chairs and other items with their weapons.

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show participants running in different directions as the alleged attack took place.

Another video showed banners, chairs and other materials scattered and damaged at the venue, apparently after the attackers had left.

The identity of the attackers and their motive remained unclear as of the time of filing this report.

However, the incident has generated concerns among political stakeholders in the area, particularly against the backdrop of heightened political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The development also comes amid controversy surrounding recent statements attributed to officials of the Kuje area council regarding residents’ choice of political candidates.

There have been allegations in some quarters that the reported attack could be linked to the prevailing political tension in the area, although no evidence had been established to confirm such a connection.

Meanwhile, the chief press secretary to the chairman of Kuje area council, Musa Samson Adayilo, has denied knowledge of the incident and rejected suggestions that members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were responsible for the alleged attack.

Adayilo, who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, stated that the council had not received any formal report concerning the alleged attack.

“We have not received any formal letter informing us that there was any attack. So, I am only speaking on a personal ground now,” he said.

According to him, his knowledge of the incident was based on posts circulating on social media, which he said described the attackers as unknown persons.

“I have come across a post on social media that a group of some Accord members had a meeting and some thugs disrupted their meeting,” he said.

Adayilo questioned how the alleged attackers were subsequently identified as APC members, stressing that the reports he had seen did not establish such an affiliation.

“But according to what I saw on social media, they said unknown men disrupted the meeting. So I am now surprised to hear that those people were APC members. How do they get to know that they are APC members?” he queried.

He maintained that APC members were peace-loving and had not been reported to the council for disrupting political meetings organised by other parties.

“APC members are peace-loving people, and we have never received any news or any report that any of our members have ever made any attempt at disrupting anybody’s meeting,” Adayilo said.

The council spokesman further described allegations linking APC members to the incident as fallacies and propaganda, accusing those making the claims of attempting to distract attention from the political issues in the area.

He also questioned the authenticity and interpretation of the videos circulating on social media.

“If you look at the video very well, you discover that that video is just a cooked video,” he alleged.

Adayilo said some persons were allegedly attempting to link the reported incident to previous controversial statements attributed to the council chairman.

According to him, the objective was to create the impression that people were acting on statements previously made by the chairman.

“With what the chairman said some time ago, they are just trying to build something that will make people believe that what the chairman said is what is transferring, you know, the people are acting upon. So there’s nothing like that,” he said.

He added that the council did not believe that the alleged incident had occurred in the manner being portrayed on social media.

Despite the denial, the reported attack has raised fresh concerns over the safety of political gatherings in Kuje as parties begin to intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections.

As of the time of filing this report, there was no independent confirmation identifying the alleged attackers or establishing that they were members of any particular political party.