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How Police Fueled Thursday’s ANLCA Bloody Clash – Farinto

  • Wale Cole in ICU following machete cuts to the head

The acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Dr. Kayode Farinto has narrated how hoodlums, allegedly sponsored by aggrieved factional leaders of the association, disrupted port activities on Thursday.

Farinto who was speaking with newsmen yesterday, confirmed that one of ANLCA executives, a Senior Special Adviser to the National President on Government Warehouses, Mr. Wale Cole was attacked during the mayhem at the Tin Can Island Port, sustaining deep machete cuts that has seen him hospitalized.

The acting ANLCA President opined that the hoodlums attacked Cole with the aim to kill him, by macheting him on his head, even as he thanked God that the victim managed to survive as he is currently receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of an undisclosed hospital.

Farinto also alleged that the Nigerian Police has been granting cover to the faction-led by Mr. Taiwo Mustapha despite a caveat emptor that the two factions should maintain status quo until the Police concludes their report.

His words: “Few weeks ago, we had a situation where the Commissioner of Police said he is going to send OC Legal to know the genuine Board of Trustees (BoT) and that until the Police concluded its findings, everybody should maintain status quo and that there shouldn’t be any meeting whatever and we’ve been respecting this directive until about two weeks ago when we heard a rumour that they (the other faction) were planning to have a western zone meeting.”

“We wrote to the Commissioner of Police and he stopped that meeting. On Wednesday we heard that they’re going to have another meeting and the Chairman of Tin Can, Ojo Akintoye, called the attention of the Commissioner of Police, but to our surprise it was even Police that gave this other group cover and protected them to have a meeting.

“Immediately some people kicked against them having their meeting since the Police boss said that everybody should maintain status quo and questioned why they should have a meeting not quite long after that we noticed that one of our executives Mr. Wale Cole was attacked after some people pointed at him and they started macheting him and his scalp was almost removed.”

“We learnt from the grapevine that one Taiye Oyeniyi and Mojeed Olomola sponsored the thugs. It’s unfortunate that Police is not playing a very good role in the crisis of ANLCA, because even Police that said we should maintain status quo ante, which we respected and we have refused to call a meeting in the western zone, but we now find a situation where Police is always giving the other party cover up knowing fully well that we have a certificate from the CAC registering the new BoT.”

Farinto maintained that the essence of the press conference was for Nigerians to know that his group has been law abiding, but one of them is currently down in ICU and everyone is praying to God to revive him.

He equally appealed to other ANLCA members to remain law abiding and calm not because they are weak, but because they believe in the judiciary and trust that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is going to do justice.

“Nobody has the monopoly of violence but we believe that a good patriotic leader must be a nation builder not the one who call thugs to start macheting fellow members. It is disheartening and discouraging to see where members who have been in the association for over 20 years resort to violence using urchins and miscreants to settle scores. This is not the ANLCA that we know,” he lamented.

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