Funso Doherty, the Lagos State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has declared that the fierce resistance mounted by party supporters against suspected political thugs at a town hall meeting in Oregun demonstrates that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, retains widespread popularity in Lagos and across Nigeria.
​The violent disruption unfolded at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at Classique Event Place (also referred to as Classic Event Place) along Kudirat Abiola Way in Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos State. Party members, youths, and stakeholders had converged at the hall ahead of the arrival of Obi and his running mate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, for a pre-2027 general election engagement.
​According to eyewitness accounts and party officials, suspected hoodlums armed with cutlasses, cudgels, stones, and other dangerous weapons stormed the premises around 11:00 a.m. while preparations for the town hall were underway.
The assailants vandalised property, smashed the windscreens of several parked vehicles, injured participants, and seized equipment belonging to journalists covering the event.
​Although the sudden invasion initially triggered panic and caused attendees to scamper for safety, NDC supporters quickly regrouped. Clad in blue shirts and white fez caps, youths and party faithful confronted the attackers, hurling chairs and chasing them out of the main hall into the car park before the altercation spilled onto Kudirat Abiola Way.
Armed police officers subsequently intervened, firing warning shots into the air to disperse the crowd and restore order, allowing the town hall meeting to proceed with Obi, Senator Victor Umeh, activist Aisha Yesufu, and other party leaders in attendance.
​Speaking to journalists following the incident on Thursday and during a subsequent media appearance on Nigeria Info FM on Friday, November 13, 2026, Doherty condemned the assault as unprovoked and unnecessary while hailing the party faithful as the heroes of the day.
He explained that the attackers had mistakenly assumed attendees would flee in fear, noting that the pushback proved the political energy behind Obi’s 2023 victory in Lagos, where he polled 582,354 votes, remains intact ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
​”Those guys came in today probably thinking they would have an easy ride. They would come in and do what they might normally do, scatter things and people would run away. But people were not in that frame of mind,” Doherty said, adding that supporters had laboured for their democratic rights and would not be intimidated. “And I think that spirit is alive and strong. To those who might think that, following 2023, people have lost some of that energy, I think, if anything, today should let us know that it is game on.”
​Doherty also dismissed suggestions that Obi’s transition to the NDC could weaken his electoral structure, arguing that voters are drawn to leadership character rather than legacy party labels.
He noted that the warm reception Obi received at the venue mirrors the enthusiasm greeting him across the country because citizens view him as a different kind of politician. Warning political rivals that downplaying Obi’s influence would be a grave mistake, Doherty maintained that those who align with his philosophy remain resolute.
​Meanwhile, officials from the Nigeria Democratic Congress and the Lagos State Police Command offered conflicting accounts regarding the security response during the clash. The Publicity Secretary of the NDC in Lagos State, Olushile Akinyemi, alleged that roughly 200 suspected political thugs invaded the Oregun venue, leaving at least four supporters injured and multiple vehicles damaged.
Akinyemi criticized security personnel deployed to the location, claiming officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) initially stood down during the assault, while confirming that NDC members apprehended one suspected attacker and handed him over to law enforcement.
​Confirming the incident on Friday, November 13, 2026, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, maintained that officers responded promptly to a distress call at Classique Event Place and restored normalcy.
Adebisi disclosed that two male suspects injured during the altercation were taken into custody and hospitalised under police guard while investigators work to determine their respective roles in the violence.
​The Lagos confrontation occurred just days after similar attacks on Obi’s convoy in Calabar on November 4 and an Obidient movement rally in Asaba on November 5, developments that have prompted the House of Representatives to constitute an ad-hoc committee to investigate escalating political violence nationwide ahead of the 2027 general elections.
