A middle-aged man, identified as Modupe Olaiya, was yesterday killed in Efon Alaaye Ekiti, headquarters of Efon local government area of Ekiti State, as members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) staged violent protests against the plot by 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose.

A source close to the town confirmed to journalists in Ado Ekiti that the incident occurred when the APC lawmakers who were said to be coming from Osun State rammed into the barricade mounted by the protesters at Ita Ore, a border town between
Ekiti and Osun states.

The police were said to have fired several gunshots to scare the protesters, who had already taken over the Ado-Ita-Ore-Ilesa road with the victim reportedly sustaining gunshot injuries in the process.

Efforts made by the APC lawmakers to gain entry into Ado-Ekiti, the state capital to hold a sitting was however, not successful, as soldiers stationed at Ita Ore were said to have stopped them from entering the state.

Three persons were said to have been arrested as the police patrol van intercepted a Hilux van marked AA 363 YEK, conveying gun-wielding thugs to the Assembly at Secretariat Road in Ado Ekiti.

Human and vehicular movements were halted for several hours as all major roads leading to Ekiti were blocked while the protesters also took over the streets of major towns like Efon Alaaye, Iworoko,
Aisegba, Ikere, Ise, Ogotun Igbemo, in protest against the move to remove Fayose from office.

Most government offices and private shops were under lock and key in the state capital, while some SSS 3 students, who are presently writing their West African Examinations Council outside the capital city were turned back by the thugs.

The protesters had massed at major spots in the state including Ajilosun, Ijigbo, Secretariat Road, Okesa, Ojumose and Old Garage as early as 6.30am, blocked the roads with planks and vehicles and made bonfires to make human and vehicular
movements difficult for hours.

The police commissioner, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, had deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers and personnel to all the affected towns and troubled spots, while the sealed House of Assembly complex was manned by heavily armed policemen, who kept vigil at the complex due to the violent nature of the
protests.

The violent protest was believed to have been fuelled by the rumour that the APC lawmakers, led by the embattled speaker,

Hon Adewale Omirin were planning to hold a sitting where the issue of the notice of gross misconduct forwarded to the governor last Friday would be discussed.

The head of service, Dr Gbenga Faseluka and organised labour under the leaderships of Trade Union Congress and Nigeria Labour Congress, had besieged the Assembly in protest and warned the lawmakers against plunging the state into violence.

The organised labour in a statement signed by NLC secretary, Comrade Ade Obatoye, TUC secretary, Comrade Joseph Adebayo and JNC secretary, Comrade Oladele Ayodeji, enjoined the entire workforce to see the present development as a way of fomenting trouble in the state and putting their lives at risk.

Also, the people of Igbemo Ekiti, led by Chief Agamago Adetunji had during a solidarity visit to the governor said: “We are solidly behind you. Ekiti people elected you to be their leader and no power under the earth can remove you”.

The deputy governor, Dr Kolapo Olusola, who responded on behalf of the governor, likened the APC lawmakers’ action to the Biblical war of Egypt against the people of Israel, and expressed confidence that the governor would triumph over his enemies.


http://leadership.ng/news/423818/impeachment-1-die-as-pdp-members-protest-in-ekiti

•No Going Back On Fayose’s Impeachment – Ekiti Lawmakers


The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers of Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday said that the state governor, Mr Ayo Fayose can only delay justice in the ongoing impeachment move against him.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on how they were prevented from entering the state to perform their constitutional responsibility by an arm of the military allegedly led by one Gen. Aliyu Momoh at the Osun/Ekiti State border in Itawure, the majority leader, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Churchill
Adedipe, who was flanked by the speaker, Dr Adewale Ominrin and 17 other APC lawmakers, said that Fayose cannot run from the inevitable.

The lawmakers accused Fayose of inciting the people of the state to start attacking their interests following their decision to fix their sitting for yesterday to continue investigation into allegations of constitutional breaches levelled against him.

He explained that the vehicles conveying the lawmakers were prevented from entering Ekiti at Itawure, a town about 40 minutes drive to Ado Ekiti by heavily armed soldiers, whom Adedipe claimed were getting orders from Brig. Gen. Aliyu Momoh,
brigade commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure.

Adedipe said for over two hours, the soldiers prevented them from proceeding to Ado Ekiti, adding that information gathered by some of the lawmakers who made calls to people waiting for them at the state assembly indicated that Governor Fayose had flooded the premises of the assembly
with thugs.