“Arise O Compatriots”, was chosen over “Nigeria, We Hail Thee!” at the opening of the townhall meeting of Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in Lagos, on Thursday.

The event billed to start in the morning didn’t commence until 6pm as a result of invasion by political thugs.

Preparations were ongoing at the venue when thugs broke in, attacking anyone in sight.

But the NDC supporters fought back forcing the thugs to beat retreat.

When the event commenced at 6pm, far behind schedule, supporters of the party recited the old national anthem.

This prompted the anchor to switch to the old anthem, which the attendees recited as Obi cheered them on.

The action could be as a result of the disapproval of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which the opposition blamed for the invasion.

On May 29, 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed into law a bill reintroducing the old national anthem following its passage by the national assembly.

Meanwhile, our correspondent who visited the venue of the townhall hours before Obi’s arrival saw destroyed vehicles, broken bottles and sprayed bullets littering on the ground.

In an interview with Olamilekan Olayiwola, ADC Chairman in ward F, Ifako Ijaiye, who sustained an injury on his hand with his cloth splashed with blood narrated his ordeal, saying the attack was planned to disrupt the party’s campaign.

“So we were here, just relaxing and talking. While they are making the arrangement of the hall. Unfortunately, but before, when we got in here.

“I am a security personnel. I went out and I saw, in the front there, there were like five yellow commercial buses parked outside. People inside were smoking and playing and they were saying they were going to destroy them.

“Then, as I heard that, I came back. I said, this is what is likely to happen to my LG chairman. That is when he started calling the Police. Before we looked up, we just saw these people marching in masses. To me, I didn’t lie. There were almost 50. They held guns. They put the guns inside super sacks, with cutlasses, axes,” he said.

According to him, uproar filled the air when they attempted to protect themselves from the encroaching attack.

“In our midst, like, we first of all make a safeguard. Safeguard the people who are here. So, when they pursue us to that end of the road.Then, we just thought that, okay, once they enter here, they will destroy everything. We have a lot of women. That is when we pursued them and we pursued them out,” he said.

He alleged that most of the party’s supporters on the bus lost their phones.

“They picked their phones,” he said.

He said the police intervened, shooting into the air to scare away people from the scene.

“The very person we captured has been taken to the police station. The police people have come out,” he added.

He called on the party’s stalwarts to beef up security within the party, saying insecurity may prevent their chance at the polling units during the 2027 election.

“If we really want to win in Lagos State. This is the beginning. We need maximum security. Not security from the federal. We need security from each ward, even not from the ward, from each polling unit. We need enough security to defend our votes.

“We need to defend it. We are ready to work for them. But all these candidates, I don’t believe they are ready to work for us. That is where we need our security,” he said.

Micheal Ejike, who sustained injury on his head, accused a suspected APC supporter of breaking a bottle on his head.

“So, in the process of defending myself. Apparently, I got hit on the head with a bottle by the APC thugs. That was what happened to my head.

“They stormed in. They came in unannounced and destroyed our vehicle. Then chased us. Pushed us to the wall then we had to push back and retaliate. While we were defending and having our fights, I got struck in the head with a bottle,” he said.