As previously reported by Starnews NG, recently, suspected political thugs disrupted the stakeholders’ meeting, injuring several members and forcing party leaders to flee the scene. Eyewitnesses recounted that the assailants, armed with broken bottles, planks, machetes, stones, and other dangerous objects, stormed the party’s secretariat while deliberations were ongoing.
The arrest followed a high-level investigation by the Force Intelligence Department (FID) in Abuja into the February 16, 2026 incident, where political thugs reportedly attacked party leaders during the pre-congress stakeholders’ meeting.
According to SaharaReporters on Thursday, Eniba allegedly confessed during preliminary questioning that the group involved in the attack had been mobilised and paid to assassinate Atikase.
Confirming the development, Barrister Babatunde Akintade, Principal Partner at Babatunde Akintade Legal Consult and counsel to Atikase, described the arrest as a significant breakthrough in the investigation. Akintade explained that the arrest was carried out following a directive from the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the FID, Mohammed Usaini Gumel, who ordered an immediate probe into the attack.
“One of the suspects named in the official complaint, Eniba, has been arrested and is currently in detention in Abuja. This is a direct result of the efforts of the Abuja FID team who were ordered to immediately investigate the attack,” Akintade stated while speaking with journalists. He commended the police for their swift action and assured that his client is cooperating fully with investigators.
On February 18, 2026, Atikase, an APC chieftain and NDDC board member, raised alarms about the attackers storming the meeting with a clear mission to eliminate him. He asserted, “Their target is to eliminate me. They told me they have been paid to assassinate me,” describing the assault as premeditated and politically motivated.
In a series of social media posts, Atikase directly accused Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of being behind the violence, warning that the governor should be held accountable if anything were to happen to him. “The people of Ondo State, if anything happens to me, hold Lucky Aiyedatiwa responsible. He is planning to assassinate me. His thugs injured so many people at the APC Secretariat today,” he wrote.
Atikase further alleged that shortly after raising concerns about threats to his life, his social media account was reported and temporarily suspended. “They reported my account, and it was suspended after I raised a serious issue concerning my life yesterday. I am back,” he stated.
He alleged that the thugs declared allegiance to the governor and were led by the Ondo State NURTW chairman, who was reportedly identifying whom to attack and whom to spare.
In separate reports, Starnews NG had earlier documented how prominent party leaders were assaulted during the attack, including the APC State Chairman, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, who was allegedly slapped, dragged on the floor, and humiliated in viral social media images.
However, the Ondo State Government has firmly denied the allegations, dismissing claims that Governor Aiyedatiwa sponsored thugs to disrupt the meeting. In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Idowu Ajanaku, the government described the accusations as malicious, unfounded, and a calculated attempt to tarnish the governor’s administration. The statement insisted that the governor was neither aware of nor connected to the meeting in question and could not have sanctioned any act of thuggery.
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