The political crisis currently rocking Ondo State over the state of health of the Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and the impeachment plot against his Deputy, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, took a dramatic twist in Akure on Tuesday, as hoodlums loyal to the camps of the two gladiators invaded the Press Center of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and prevented a scheduled press conference from holding.

The press conference billed to hold at 11am, was organised by the Ondo Liberation Initiative (O.L.I).

Shortly before the commencement of the media parley, the unarmed hoodlums who arrived the NUJ Press Center in their hundreds on motorcycles made attempts to force their way into the venue of the press conference, but met the doors under lock and keys.

Frustrated that they couldn’t gain access to the hall, the hoodlums sat at the entrance of the press center and prevented both journalists and members of OLI from gaining access to the venue of the event. This, however, led to ultercations between pro and anti-impeachment of the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

When it was obvious that the hoodlums were not ready to vacate the premises of the Pen House, the Spokesperson of the OLI, Mr. Johnson Alabi decided to address the media at the entrance of the press centre.

In his address, Alabi said OLI is a coalition of over 50 organisations spread across the 18 Local Government areas of Ondo State, working on empowering the youths, women, and children, conflict resolution, peace-building, economic advancement and sustainable development of the State and Nigeria at large.

Alabi said the organisation expressed concerns about the State of the health of the Governor who, he said has been caged by either his immediate family or his aides who are his handlers and prevented him from accessing quality health care abroad because of reasons best known to them.

His words “As for us who are stakeholders in the state, we feel that Aketi should not be made to suffer this much, having done much for our dear state. We do not wish him dead. We wish that he can continue to sustain his policies which have been remarkable in not only Ondo State but the entire South West region of Nigeria.

“Consequently, we call on all well-meaning Nigerians to shout out loud, intervene and rescue him from this perceived captivity. Akeredolu should not be allowed to die the way he is being caged.

“However, the concept we are here to showcase today is “Rescue yourself”. It is now evidently clear that every citizen of this state needs to rescue him/herself from poverty, impoverishment, economic hardship and political hardship.

“As a matter of fact today we wish to canvass for the rescue of our Governor from the handlers who have deliberately caged him so as to remain in one position for their selfish interest at the expense of his ill health.

“We all know that when anyone is sick as our Governor is now, he remains at the mercy of whoever is managing his health. As it is now, we perceive that our Governor is very ill and at the mercy of these handlers.

“Nobody has access to him! Nobody has seen him in any public place since his claimed resumption of office. This is why our concept becomes necessary in Ondo.

“Ondo government needs to be rescued; the people need to be rescued by embracing Government policies that can eradicate poverty. Aketi needs to be rescued and taken out for better medical care. The Governor is no longer a private person but a public officer.”

The group called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene in rescuing Akeredolu and take him abroad for good medical care just as they commanded the National Chairman of APC, Alh. Abdullahi Ganduje and the reconciliation Committee set up by the National Secretariat for their timely intervention and restoration of peace to the State, Ondo.