Ex-commissioner: Daniel is after my life (The Nation)

A former Commissioner for Agriculture in Ogun State, Hon. Waliu Taiwo, has accused Governor Gbenga Daniel of being after his life.

He said Daniel has a killer-squad that is bent on eliminating all his perceived opponents.

Addressing reporters in Lagos yesterday, Taiwo, who was sacked from the State Executive Council (Exco) on March 4, said he and members of his family were the latest victims of the governor’s killer-squad.

They were attacked over the weekend, and one of his cousins was killed, he said.

Narrating his ordeal, the two-time member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, said he was invited to attend a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward meeting at Atan, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area but had to shelve it when an anonymous caller warned him to stay away.

"I later got a distress call from my supporters that hired thugs led by a local government chief with a commissioner invaded the meeting with dangerous weapons like guns, machetes, charms etc. and were demanding for me," Taiwo said.

Brandishing the photographs of the injured, the former Commissioner said he reported the matter to the Police Area Commander in Ota.

"When I could not be located at the meeting, the gang moved down to my ancestral home in Ota, thinking I would be there, and attacked many people. From there, they proceeded towards my family house in Osi where they shot several people and killed one of my cousins, Abiodun Oyewole. This was also reported to the Area Commander.

"Gbenga Daniel used to say he does not have a killer-squad and that people should produce any corpse his squad had killed; now I have the corpse of my cousin that his killer-squad killed. He cannot deny this killing because he masterminded this operation through his boy, the council chief, funded it through the commissioner and now wants to cover up through his security adviser," Taiwo said.

The PDP chieftain said when he went to the police station to report the matter, he was told to go to the Commissioner of Police in Abeokuta, the state capital, where he was told that there was a petition against him by the council chief and a Special Adviser to the Governor.

"Daniel wants to compare himself with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but there is no basis for comparison, Tinubu is a leader, founded the AC and concedes where necessary, but Daniel is a stranger in PDP, had no political antecedent before he became governor, he is an inexperienced politician, he joined us in the party, now he wants to decide what happens without taking other stakeholders into consideration," Taiwo said.

But, the state government denied Taiwo’s allegation.

Speaking through the Consultant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Sina Ogunbambo, the government said it does not have a killer-squad.

"That is not our character. We don’t run a government of killers, and those concerned in the matter will address the press tomorrow (today) to give details of all they knew about the issue."