Gunmen have attacked an All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Aspirant in Ekiti State, Mr. Bayo Babalotin, on Tuesday evening.

A seven-man gang attacked the politician on the outskirts of Erio-Ekiti in Ekiti West Local Government Area, near a police checkpoint at 6.30 pm.

Narrating his ordeal yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Babalotin said policemen at the checkpoint fled and returned after the attack.

The politician said he wanted to travel with his brother to Ibadan, Oyo State capital, in his Nissan Pathfinder Suv when three members of the gang came out of the bush and opened fire on his vehicle.

He said: “The attack happened immediately near the police checkpoint on the outskirts of Erio. The three of them came out of the bush and started shooting. They wore police uniform and bullet-proof vests.

“As I was trying to reverse the vehicle, three more members of the gang, all of them wielding AK-47, came out and started shooting simultaneously.

“My Nissan Pathfinder SUV was shattered with bullets: the body, the windscreen and the tyres. The vehicle was abandoned on the scene while my brother and I ran into the forest where we hid for about 30 minutes.

“After they left, we joined another private vehicle at Aramoko, where I reported the incident at the police station.

“I suspect assassination because a Toyota Tundra was trailing me from Iyin. To my surprise, the Tundra turned from the scene of the incident.

“After we came out of the bush, the policemen, who had returned to the checkpoint, said the assassins were shooting into the bush. The policemen said those people are not amateur shooters.”

Efforts to get the command’s comments last night were unsuccessful.