LAGOS – Five people were killed in clashes between political rivals in southwestern Nigerian town of Ibadan, police said yesterday.
“We were able to recover five bodies from Moniya, the scene of the fracas between supporters of the PDP (People’s Democratic Party) and the Labour Party,” a senior police officer told AFP. He said trouble broke out on Tuesday during an election campaign rally organised by Labour Party to drum up support for its candidates in Saturday’s governorship and state house of assembly polls.Witness Bayo Ajani told AFP several people were also injured in the violence before the police could contain it.”It was the quick intervention of the police that saved the day,” he said.Tensions are rising in Nigeria ahead of this month’s key vote to choose a successor to President Olusegun Obasanjo, who steps down after 16 years in power on May 29.State governorship and state assembly polls are scheduled for April 14 while presidential and National Assembly elections are fixed for April 21.Meanwhile, the presidential candidates of Nigeria’s opposition parties will meet today to forge an alliance against the ruling party in this month’s polls, officials said on Tuesday.The meeting is being convened by General Mohammadu Buhari, the presidential flagbearer of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and it will take place in Abuja, the country’s administrative capital, they said.But it is not yet clear if the opposition candidates will choose a consensus candidate among themselves to challenge Umaru Yar’Adua, the Katsina State Governor who is the candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and who is favoured to win the vote.Nampa-AFPHe said trouble broke out on Tuesday during an election campaign rally organised by Labour Party to drum up support for its candidates in Saturday’s governorship and state house of assembly polls.Witness Bayo Ajani told AFP several people were also injured in the violence before the police could contain it.”It was the quick intervention of the police that saved the day,” he said.Tensions are rising in Nigeria ahead of this month’s key vote to choose a successor to President Olusegun Obasanjo, who steps down after 16 years in power on May 29.State governorship and state assembly polls are scheduled for April 14 while presidential and National Assembly elections are fixed for April 21.Meanwhile, the presidential candidates of Nigeria’s opposition parties will meet today to forge an alliance against the ruling party in this month’s polls, officials said on Tuesday.The meeting is being convened by General Mohammadu Buhari, the presidential flagbearer of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and it will take place in Abuja, the country’s administrative capital, they said.But it is not yet clear if the opposition candidates will choose a consensus candidate among themselves to challenge Umaru Yar’Adua, the Katsina State Governor who is the candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and who is favoured to win the vote.Nampa-AFP
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