Suspected supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday attacked and set ablaze two campaign vehicles belonging to President Goodluck Jonathan in the Suleja area of the Niger State, according to a THISDAY report.
“The attack was as a result of the jubilation by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who received about 2,000 decampees from the APC during the campaign of PDP governorship candidate, Umar Nasko,” the paper reported this morning.
It disclosed that “the attack took place after the campaign train which had on it the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, had left the town for Gurara Local Government Area.”
THISDAY quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the Jonathan vehicles were burnt to ashes but no life was lost.
It said that “the intervention of the military prevented the escalation of the situation,” adding that “soldiers have condoned off the street in which the incident happened.”
The attack came barely two weeks after PDP campaign buses heading for Bauchi were ambushed in Jos, Plateau State, by APC youths on January 10 and destroyed after the occupants were ordered out.
Jonathan’s convoy has also been attacked in Katsina and Bauchi states, thus stoking tension ahead of the February 14 presidential election in which APC’s Muhammadu Buhari is his main challenger.
Both Buhari and APC have dissociated themselves from the attacks, with Buhari specifically declaring that no one should insult or attack anyone on his behalf.
