On Thursday, reports emerged that the Labour Party candidate for Lagos State House of Assembly in Surulere Constituency I, Olumide Oworu was attacked by thugs.
Gatekeepers News reports that thugs allegedly attacked Oworu and members of his campaign train during a campaign, destroying a restaurant and damaging properties while injuring some of them.
Following the report of the attack, a picture of a bloodied Oworu began circulating on social media, with several people claiming thugs hired by the All Progressives Congress (APC) bruised him.
Oworu tweeted, “My team and I were attacked on Tuesday as we attempted to campaign at Iponri, Surulere. A member of my team was injured, but we are thankful the incident didn’t escalate past the level it was. The case has been reported at the Iponri police station.
“I am not deterred by the incident. Instead, I am more committed to seeing this through. We will pass through the wards in constituency 1 (Akinhanmi/Cole, Adeniran/Ogunsanya, Iponri Housing Estate/Eric Moore, Igbaja/Stadium, Shitta/Ogunlana Drive, Yaba/Ojuelegba). See you outside!”
My team and I were attacked on Tuesday as we attempted to campaign at Iponri, Surulere. A member of my team was injured, but we are thankful the incident didn’t escalate past the level it was. The case has been reported at the Iponri police station.
— Olumide Abiodun Oworu (@OlumideOworu) March 16, 2023
Although Oworo didn’t upload pictures or videos from the attack, some Tweeps have circulated the alleged picture of the attack, claiming that the attack was carried out by thugs of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the seating HOA member of the Constituency, Desmond Elliot.
See some of the tweets below:
Hope the whole world have seen what Desmond Elliot did to Olumide. This won’t stop his retirement. It’s inevitable pic.twitter.com/ttNr6IEc78
— Peter Obi Stan supporter (@omoelerinjare) March 16, 2023
BREAKING: Olumide Oworu’s convoy has been attacked right now at Eric Moore Lagos state and one of our guys has been stabbed. The thugs have fled the crime scene
All because we dare the challenge the status Quo. We won’t be deterred. On Saturday we’ll vote out APC
RETWEET 📌
— Chlorpheniramine #OBIdients 🇳🇬 (@VictorIsrael_) March 16, 2023
These are some of the faces of APC thugs who attacked Olumide Oworu (of the Labour Party) & his team in Surulere today. Olumide is contesting against Desmond Elliot.
So what is Olumide’s crime? Is he not Yoruba enough? Explain this to me? 💔 pic.twitter.com/3Yj6wXH8xn
— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) March 16, 2023
Nevertheless, Gatekeepers News checked Oworu’s and the LP’s social media networks to see if they shared the same picture, but found that neither of them did.
It was confirmed that the image being circulated was from a movie set, On The Edge, and posted on Oworu’s Instagram page on October 3, 2022.
It was captioned “Agbado John Wick #OnTheEdge”.
This image is six months old and was published before Oworu who is a Nollywood star declared his intention to contest for office.
VERDICT: Olumide Oworo was attacked, however, picture claims from Tweeps are false.