The national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was on Friday turned into a battleground when protesters and supporters of Nasiru Ladan, the DG of Amalgamated APC Support Group (AASG) clashed.
A source at the secretariat told Media Talk Africa the free-for-all was between party supporters who were against Nasiru, whom they accused of running a one-man show, and his loyalists.
Peaceful protesters reportedly arrived at the secretariat in the early hours of Friday to register their displeasure against the leadership style of Ladan, but the strife between the group and loyalists of the DG soon escalated leading to visitors and staff scampering for safety.
The situation degenerated into a bitter skirmish where dangerous weapons were freely used by both parties leading to the use of at least 60 canisters of teargas by the team of security agents on ground to disperse the protesters and restore sanity at the secretariat.
According to a witness: “The protest was against the DG of the Almagamated APC Support Groups. The peaceful protesters that first arrived at the secretariat in the early hours accused him of “eating alone” without carrying others along. They had wanted to register their disappointment over Ladan’s leadership style before the party’s national leadership and end it there.
“But, before you could say Jack Robinson, the DG and his loyalists mobilised other boys to counter the peaceful protest. And [in] the twinkle of an eye, everywhere became rowdy forcing few of us to scamper for safety.
“Several canisters of teargas were used to disperse them and restore sanity to the secretariat. It was a scary situation really.”
