The People’s Democratic Party in Takete-Ide and the entire community have accused a media aide to Kogi State Governor, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, of harassing innocent indigenes of the community with sporadic gunshots and threats of arrest. The community therefore called on law enforcement organs in Mopamuro Local Government to call Fanwo to order.
This is contained in a petition signed by Temitope Atte, a PDP member and indigene of the community and made available to newsmen in Lokoja today. Fanwo who is Governor Yahaya Bello’s Director General on Media and Publicity hails from the community and is said to have cultivated a habit of going about with security personnel who shoots without restraint whenever he visited.
Captioned ‘situation report on the dangers of gunpoint politics by Femi Fanwo in Takete-Ide,’ the petition says Takete has become a new Somalia, Eritrea, Palestine and Sambisa forest where the power of the gun rules the day, and the night! “We hereby call on Femi Fanwo to cease and desist this terror and siege on our community, particularly on hapless women and youngsters who are vulnerable. All well-meaning people should impress upon him that seeking people’s support by democratic means is the way to go towards election and not through the dirty, dangerous, despicable threat of violence.
The petition reads in part: “We the entire Takete Ide community and PDP leadership & members in Ward 07 hereby draw your attention to life-threatening events continuously perpetrated by Femi Fanwo in our hometown, and request your assistance in curtailing this horrific trend. I will restrain myself to what I’ve witnessed in the last 48 hours only: “I was home about 8pm on Saturday Nov. 2 and joined the PDP leadership at Ile Oke directly. What I met was a combustible situation where Babatunde Fanwo had sat about 50 yards across from the PDP leadership with some of his party boys generally raising hell and making threats to “carry” (detain) some PDP members ASAP. He drew our attention to the fact that even the PDP Campaign CSO has been “carried” so “we can carry anybody”.
“This was against the backdrop that earlier that evening, before my arrival, he had removed the cap of a PDP member 3 times and threw it off for daring to wear it. Needless to say, their boys wear theirs and are not being harassed. Babatunde Fanwo is a younger brother to Femi Fanwo, DG Media to Gov. Yahaha Bello of the APC. ‘Tunde was challenged and there was temporary calm.