The political crisis rocking Ekiti State deepened on
Friday as Governor Kayode Fayemi declared dusk
till dawn curfew in the state.
In a live broadcast in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, Fayemi
said, “There would be no movement between the
hours of 7.00 p.m and 7.00 am 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.”
The declaration followed widespread violence
across the state capital on Friday following
Thursday’s killing of a former Chairman of the
National Union of Road Transport Workers, Omolafe
Aderiye, by gunmen.
The office of Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation
and three vehicles in the state secretariat of the All
Progressives Congress were burnt in the early
hours of Friday.
Last Monday, hoodlums invaded the Ekiti State High
Court presided over by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi
to disrupt proceedings in a case challenging the
eligibility of the Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele
Fayose, to contest the June 21 election won by him.
The invasion occurred shortly after the judge
refused an application to set aside an order
abridging the time for the Peoples Democratic
Party’s candidate to file his defence in the case filed
by two members of the Ekiti-11, Mr. Adeniyi
Ajakaiye and Olufemi Ajayi.
On Thursday, another judge, Justice John Adeyeye,
was beaten by some thugs who also tore his suit.
There was also tension at the Ekiti State
Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Thursday
in a matter between the APC and Fayose.
Tracing the genesis of the violence to the Monday
attack on Justice Ogunyemi, Fayemi indicted law
enforcement agencies for not doing enough to avoid
the situation.
He said, “This happened in full glare of the law
enforcement agents with inappropriate response.
Clearly, these brigands exceeded the limits of
acceptable behavior, even in the most liberal of
democracies, and ventured into the realm of blatant
criminality with this desecration of the hallowed
chambers of the law.
“The fact that this assault did not meet with any
strong deterring repercussions from the appropriate
authorities further emboldened the miscreants.
“They subsequently attempted to prevent the Ekiti
State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal from
sitting, yesterday, Thursday, September 25. I am
advised incontrovertibly that thugs acting on the
command of Mr. Ayo Fayose, who was also present
to lend his clout to the travesty, brazenly assaulted
a senior judge and urged his thugs to beat him up
and tear his clothes.”
He added, “Since the beginning of this development
on Monday, which is unprecedented in the recent
history of our state, I have been in touch with the
heads of all security agencies at the state and
federal levels, urging them to act quickly and firmly
in the interest of public law and order. It is
worrisome that the slow and inadequate response
has occasioned the avoidable escalation of violence
in our dear state.”
The governor described the use of violence and
intimidation to obstruct the course of justice as an
invitation to anarchy.
He appealed to the political elite to exercise caution
as the state is in the transition era, asking
stakeholders to support efforts to ensure that Ekiti
State come out of the crisis stronger.
Fayemi said, “We must rescue our state from the
precarious slippery slope that some have
desperately pushed us to. We should not imperil the
very people we seek to serve by resorting to
violence and brigandage. One does not burn down
his homestead to establish his claim of ownership
or leadership.
“Most assuredly, the course of Justice can only be
delayed, but can never be truncated. The
independence of the Judiciary is an inviolable tenet
of any democracy.”
The governor said he had directed the Attorney
General of the state, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, to issue a
legal advisory to the Chief Judge, Ayodeji Daramola,
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.”
Fayemi, who noted that the security agencies had
taken control of the situation, urged them not to
relent in performing their constitutional role of
protecting lives and property in the state.
“Administrations come and go; politics can be
frenetic when the stakes are high; but by the grace
of the Almighty God, our state remains for all time,
therefore the peace of our land is not negotiable.”
The Governor appealed to the people to see
themselves as brothers despite their political
differences by embracing civility and empathy.
“Let us deal truthfully with our youth, who are so
liable to be led astray by unbridled political fervour,
by seeing them as our children rather than as
conscripts or fodder for our objectives.
“Let us work together to stop the violence and
brigandage that has brought about serious
embarrassment to our state in the last few days.”
Police begin investigation
The Ekiti State Police Command has begun
investigation into the alleged killing of a former Ekiti
State chairman of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers, Omolafe Aderiye.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor
Babayemi, also announced the arrest of some
suspects over the violence that erupted in the state
on Friday.
Aderiye was a staunch supporter of the Governor-
elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose.
A statement entitled “Murder of Chief Aderiye
Omolafe and the attendant civil unrest” made
available to journalists, Babayemi said, “In the last
24 hours, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, has witnessed
series of unpleasant events.”
He recalled that the police in the early hours of
Thursday reacted to the rowdy situation by some
people around the high court premises in Ado-Ekiti
by dispersing them and escorting judges and
lawyers out of the court premises to their various
abode.
Babayemi said, “Regrettably, while the police were
reviewing their strategies at putting an end to
rowdiness in and around the court premises, the
news of the killing came in.
“And, in response, the Commissioner of Police led
policemen out all night and was able to forestall the
breakdown of law and order generated by the
killing.
“However, in the morning hoodlums started coming
out in droves, taking to the streets of Ado-Ekiti and
causing carnage by setting fire on some buildings,
vehicles and property.
“The Commissioner of Police again reacted by
leading senior officers on patrol to curtail the
situation. With this prompt and decisive response,
the situation in Ado-Ekiti metropolis was brought
under effective control.
Babayemi, however, warned that anyone found
flouting the curfew order by Fayemi would be dealt
with.
NBA raises investigative team
The Nigerian Bar Association has said that it will
send what it called “a high powered team” to Ekiti
State to investigate Monday’s and Thursday’s
attack on judges and disruption of court
proceedings in the state.
The NBA President said in a statement on Friday
that the association would ensure that anyone found
to be involved in the “show of shame” would be
made to face the wrath of the law.
The statement read, “The NBA is sending a high
powered team to Ekiti to investigate the facts
surrounding this matter. Any person(s), no matter
how highly placed, found involved in this show of
shame and desecration of our courts will surely
face the full force of the law as NBA will ensure
prosecution of such person(s).
“We will not sit idly while persons who do not mean
well for our society take steps capable of plunging
our country into anarchy.”
The Ado-Ekiti branch of the association also
condemned the attack, describing the development
as primitive and crude.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the branch
chairman, Mr. Joseph Adewumi and the Secretary,
Mr. Gbemiga Adaramola, urged the state
Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, to beef up
security within and outside the premises of courts
in the state.
APC seeks Fayose’s arrest
The All Progressives Congress has called for the
arrest and prosecution of the Ekiti State Governor-
elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, for allegedly leading
thugs to beat up a judge and instigating his
supporters to attack and burn public property in the
state.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by its
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
the APC said since Fayose had yet to enjoy
immunity, he should be arrested for prosecution.
The APC said it was necessary to act fast to prevent
anarchists and crude individuals from taking the
laws into their hands and tampering with the
administration of justice because the attack on
Justice John Adeyeye came a few days after pro-
Fayose and pro-PDP thugs invaded a court room in
the state.
The party said, “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 on the streets, and judges
preside in the administration of justice.”
Fayose, PDP react
The Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose,
has condemned Thursday’s killing of the former
state NURTW Chairman, Omolafe Aderiye, as
barbaric and political.
Fayose, who visited Aderiye’s widow on Friday,
described the killing as barbaric and political.
He said, “We were together till about 5pm yesterday
(Thursday). But taking his life is not an option. It is
not the best. This is irreparable and we have come
here to sympathise with the family. If this other
party are sure they are not the one who is
responsible for the killing, they should be
courageous enough to come and pay a condolence
visit to his family.”
Reacting to Fayemi’s comment in which he
tactically blamed Fayose for inciting the mob action
against the court officials, the governor-elect said,
“Fayemi is a defeated man, so I don’t expect
anything better from him. I see him as governor
until his time is over. So, I would rather not join
issues with him. It is reckless for anybody to be
making assertions on an incident he didn’t witness.”
The Peoples Democratic Party also condemned
Aderiye’s killing.
A statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by the state PDP
Publicity Secretary, Kola Oluwawole, described the
killing as an act of wickedness, barbaric and
satanic.
The statement read, “We have raised the alarm on
the clandestine move by Fayemi and his men to
attack Fayose and some notable leaders in all the
16 local government areas as from September 22,
2014 while the killing of Aderiye, who is one of the
notable leaders of the PDP in Ado Ekiti occurred on
the 25th of the same month, this has vindicated our
earlier claims.
“We don’t have any doubt in our mind if the
information at our disposal is anything to go by and
the murder incident that has been linked directly
with the All Progressives Congress members
across the state in the past.”

www.punchng.com/news/fayemi-imposes-curfew-on-ekiti/

i pray they did not turn the state upside down........ but is the wwhat they all have for us in 2015? nawa ooooo

Ha ha its too long now, kilode.
My only concern is that why Fayemi or has Fayose not been sworn in