• I’m not aware a judge was beaten up – Governor-elect
All hell was let loose in Ado-Ekiti on Friday as angry youths took to the streets vandalising properties over the killing of a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Omolafe Aderiye, on Thursday night. Aderiye, also a staunch supporter of the governor-elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, was shot dead about 8.30pm at his office in Ijigbo area of Ado-Ekiti.
As a result of the development, the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the state. He has also suspended his farewell tour of the state which would have ended next Thursday. “Ekiti Kete, in order to forestall further descent into anarchy in our state, I am taking the very difficult decision to suspend the ‘Thank You’ tour which I’m undertaking as part of our transitioning- out formalities.
“Also, I have taken the decision to institute a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state immediately. Accordingly, there would be no movement between the hours of 7.00 p.m. and 7.00a.m. everyday till further notice. We urge the citizenry to be vigilant and provide the security agencies with details of suspicious activities that can undermine the peace in our state,” he said. Fayemi also said he has advised the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Mr Wale Fapohunda, to advise the Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Adaramola, to take the hearing of cases by the regular courts and the sitting of the Governorship Election Petition, Tribunal to venues outside the state.
“Accordingly, I have this morning directed the Attorney- General of the state to issue a legal advisory to the Chief Judge of the state and all the parties to the existing cases in the state high court and the Ekiti State Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal, on the desirability of seeking an alternative venue for the hearing of these cases outside Ekiti State. The state can no longer afford to witness the bizarre spectacle of the beating up of judicial officers and wanton intimidation of lawyers and court personnel,” the governor added.
But Ekiti State’s Governorelect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has offered a somewhat contrary view on the crisis. “I am not aware that a judge was beaten. In fact, this is strange to me. Though, I visited the Election Petitions Tribunal as a party to the case and I was the only one that was allowed passage by security to the Tribunal. And to the best of my knowledge, the three judges handling the tribunal case actually seated,” he said. There were reports that Fayose’s supporters had beaten up an election tribunal judge, Justice John Adeyeye, and ripped his clothes for being allegedly rude to the governor-elect.
That development forced the state Chief Judge, Ayodeji Daramola, to order the immediate closure of all courts in the state until adequate security measures are in place. Speaking further, Fayose said: “How can I order the people to beat up a Judge that has nothing to do with me? At what point was this judge beaten? Was he a member of the tribunal? Because I went to the tribunal and not the regular court. “But I want to point out that a situation whereby judges or judicial officers who should be custodian of the law get compromised with politicians, then anarchy sets in.
The judge handling the suit against my qualification dropped the case because of tension and because he lacks the confidence to continue. It would have been better for him to insist that he would try the case based on its merit. It is sad that most of our judges have compromised. “If you have been defeated in all the 16 local government areas and you now want to come through the window, it won’t be like ice cream party to APC. I would not be too cheap like Segun Oni. I am not going to be cheap at all because I was elected by the people.
“I don’t care about whatever they write about me because I have grown a thick skin. The strategy of APC will not work. Nobody, no matter how highly placed would remove me cheaply.” The PDP, on Friday, also condemned the killing of Aderiye, saying it smacked of desperation on the part of the APC to cling to power even after it had been voted out of office.
The publicity secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, said: “We’ve raised the alarm on the clandestine move by Fayemi and his men to attack the Governor-elect, Dr Ayo Fayose, and some notable leaders in all the 16 Local Government Areas as from the 22nd of September 2014 while the killing of Aderiye who is one of the notable leader of the party in Ado Ekiti occurred on the 25th same month, this has vindicated our earlier claims.” Oluwawole who said that Aderiye was at the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti on the June 21 the governorship election in the State, where he had mobilised members of the drivers’ union and other associations in solidarity with Fayose.
He said the deceased became target of APC as a result of his commitment to the mandate given to the governor-elect. “We appeal to the inspectorgeneral of police and all relevant security agencies to bring to book the perpetrators of these dastardly act so that those whose aim is to create a chaotic situation that will negatively affect the swearing-in of the governor-elect will not have their way.”
Meanwhile, the campaign office of Fayemi, along Ajilosun Road, the state secretariat of the APC opposite Fayemi’s campaign office have been vandalised by youths said to be members of the PDP. Also not spared were the Ado Local Government secretariat of the APC, a popular eatery, Danke Foods, belonging to an APC chieftain, Mr Bayo Aina, public structures and vehicles parked along major roads in the town. Areas such as Okeyinmi, Ijigbo, Odo-Ado, Ajilosun, Ereguru, Ojumose bore the heaviest brunt of the violence, as the youth moved from one location to the other to attack suspected leaders of the APC.
The chaos crippled commercial activities in the state as private businesses and government institutions were hurriedly shut. The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, led officers and men of the command to constantly patrol the streets. The development also led to national newspapers not circulating in the state, as vans bringing in the papers had a difficult time coming to the state and by the time they eventually got to Ado-Ekiti, they could not be circulated. People coming to the state from Ondo, Osun and Kogi states had difficulty in accessing the state as a result of the violence.
Also, The APC has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Fayose “for leading a band of thugs to beat up a Judge and then instigating his supporters to attack and burn down the opposition secretariat in the state”. The party, in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said since Fayose does not yet enjoy any immunity from arrest and prosecution, he should immediately be arrested over the dastardly and barbaric attack, which represents an attack on justice and on the rule of law, and the violence that has gripped the state.
“Even though Fayose has not assumed office, he has succeeded in taking Ekiti State back to Egypt within a few months of his ‘election’. Not only are Judges being attacked, the kind of killings and chaos that characterised his first time in charge of the state have already started. He is struggling hard to ensure that Ekiti is no longer in the league of states where disputes are settled in courts, instead of on the streets, and judges preside in the administration of justice.”
Source: New Telegraph
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