With less than two weeks to the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, there was a pandemonium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday following the death of a yet-to-be identified man, who was allegedly shot and killed by the police.
The incident was said to have occurred while the police were trying to disperse a peaceful procession organised by the state chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) to counter the mega rally held by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ado Ekiti on Saturday.
The APC Chairman in the state, Chief Jide Awe, who briefed the journalists on what he called ‘police brutality’, said the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi, was also not spared in the action as he was tear-gassed during the peaceful rally held by the party , while the security attached to him were allegedly disarmed by Mopol Commander, Mr. Gabriel Selenkere.
However, the state Police Command, which denied involvement in the killing, said it had arrested eight persons in connection with the clash that led to the death of one person.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Victor Babayemi, who exonerated his men from the killing, said members of the ruling APC, led by Senator Babafemi Ojudu and House of Representatives member, Mr. Oyetunji Ojo, provoked the violence through their actions and utterances.
Babayemi said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti that the persons apprehended were helping the command to unravel those behind the attacks.
Accusing the police of compromise in the June 21 election, Awe called for immediate transfer of the Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Uyanna, and the Mopol Commander, saying the duo had allegedly compromised and could no longer have confidence in them.
It was confirmed that when the police succeeded in stopping the rally, the APC and PDP members started attacking one another and the police had to stage a comeback to quell the crisis.
The Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, was holding a meeting with some top members of the PDP at the Pathfinder Hotel in the state capital when the procession started.
According to Awe, “We were just holding a peaceful procession at about 8a.m. this morning (yesterday) as part of our sensitisation programmes, the Mopol Commander molibised his men and came with two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), bought with the state money and accosted us at Ijigbo. He asked us to stop, we tried to plead with him but he insisted that he was acting on the order of President Goodluck Jonathan that no rally should hold in the state.
“They started firing teargas canister and shot straight at our people and one of our members was killed in the process. Even a serving Commissioner, Mr Funminiyi Afuye, was arrested and detained.
The caretaker Chairman of Ado Local Government Area, Tope Olanipekun, sustained injuries and many others.
“The CP and Mopol Commander must leave the state within the next 24 hours because we fear that if APC can no longer hold rallies 14 days to election, it means it confirmed the rumour that the state election is going to be between the security agents and our party.”
He urged President Jonathan to deploy energy to free the Chibok schoolgirls held by Boko Haram rather than allegedly declaring war on the people.
While also briefing his supporters at the government house, to plead for calm, Fayemi, said: “The PDP is jittery and that is why they are killing the people. But I am ready to protect my people no matter what they do.
“We are ready to face their rigging machine and I am assuring you that the PDP plan to rig this election won’t be successful in the state.”
However, in his contrary opinion, the PDP Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said it was indeed the APC members who were on parade in the town that provoked the violence by attacking an Okada rider who was carrying a passenger that wore a T-shirt with Ayo Fayose inscription.
According to him, shortly after the Okada passenger was killed, his killers quickly took off the Ayo Fayose T-shirt on him and replaced it with an APC vest so as to suggest that it was one of their members that was killed by PDP.
However, a statement by the state police commissioner, Mr Felix Uyanna, said the police had no hand in the killing, saying the victim was attacked by members of APC and PDP, who clashed during the rally.
Uyanna said: “The APC was holding a rally today in Ado Ekiti with intention to sweep off the footprints of the PDP without the permission of the police. They had an encounter with the PDP rival party where dangerous weapons like axes, cudgels, machetes and other dangerous weapons were freely used.
“A yet to be identified man was inflicted with multiple injuries on the head and was rushed to the hospital on the order of the police commissioner.
The statement added that the CP and the Director of SSS, Mr. Samuel Tamuno, had to mobilise to the point.
“We heard that the governor wanted to visit the scene and we advised him against that which he did not heed. So, the police should not be held liable for this”, Uyanna said.
