LAM WARNS OF RE-ENACTMENT OF WILD, WILD WEST IN OYO

One-time Oyo State governor, Alhaji Lam Adesina yesterday raised fears of possible re-enactment of the 1962 'Wild Wild West' civil crisis in the state as the 2011 general elections draw near. The Action Congress (AC) leader's fear was against the backdrop of violent attacks on politicians by thugs in the state, the latest being the invasion of the state House of Assembly by hoodlums penultimate Tuesday.

Two lawmakers were hospitalized due to severe beating the received from the miscreants suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) for attempting to impeach the Speaker Moroof Atilola in the fracas.

Adesina, who condemned the incident said: 'I saw the hand of the executive in the attack because I do not know the business of NURTW men in the House. They were not invited by the lawmakers to come there. So, it was another re-enactment of what happened in the first republic in that House of Assembly.'

Lam who spoke at the prayer/house warming ceremony of a friend, Kassim Kola Raji at Bodija, Ibadan, added that 'just as one of the lawmakers, last week Tuesday, was trying to escape from being attacked and was thrown down from the two-storey building thereby breaking his legs, one Honourable. Kessington Momoh, was also trying to escape from the 1962 crisis in the same Parliament Building when he was stuck within the window'. The former governor warned that: 'If we are not careful, Oyo state may soon witness another 'wild, wild west' based on the illegality being perpetrated in that House.

'There was no crime in the legislators trying to change their officer. It is part of their legislative duties. The number of lawmakers that even sat and suspended their colleagues on that day did not form a quorum in the first place. That was how they perpetuated the illegality during Ladoja's administration. We need to be careful in Oyo state, lest the state be thrown into another avoidable civil strive'.

At the party besides the former governor, were some chieftains of the party including its Chairman Chief Samuel Farinu, governorship aspirant Dr. Adebayo Adewusi and former Deputy Governor Chief Iyiola Oladokun.