Political strategist and transformational executive Olatorera Oniru has condemned the recent attacks on former Labour Party governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and some Lagosians as an attack on Nigerian democracy, warning of the dangers of authoritarianism.

In a statement on Sunday, Ms Oniru lamented the alleged displacement of residents in Oworonshoki, adding that democracy cannot thrive when citizens face suppression and violence.

“What happened today is wrong and condemnable in every way,” the politician said. “Democracy cannot thrive where citizens are brutalized, opposition voices are silenced, and laws of humanity are disrespected. Nigerian citizens must stand tall against kleptocrats, thugs, and warmongers.”

Ms Oniru explained that Nigerians “face a choice between regression and unprecedented progress, between emptiness and patriotic actions, between propaganda and evidential results, between entrenched corruption and genuine freedom, between maleducation and powerful intelligence, and between mass suffering and a future of peace, unity, and prosperity”.

On Saturday, Mr Rhodes-Vivour alleged that louts, under the police’s nose, desecrated the Christ Gospel Mission International campground at Command Road, Ipaja, during his declaration for the African Democratic Congress.

The politician said the event, which was intended for about 4,000 Alimosho indigenes and Ikeja residents, offering free medical check-ups and helping unemployed youths among them secure profitable jobs, was disrupted after the earlier venue was sealed following “orders from above”.

However, the police dismissed the claim as false and misleading, stating that the operatives were only performing their primary function of preventing, controlling crime, and maintaining peace in the area and environs.