Journalists recount how they escaped death in FUOYE crisis
......as NUJ condemns attack on First Lady, journalists

Some journalists ; Folorunso Adebiyi of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Olasunkami Ogunmuko of CORE TV, Raphael Ogbonnaiye of Daily Trust, Ayodele Afolabi of The Guardian , Adedayo Oladele of New Nigerian and other journalists on the first lady's entourage narrowly escaped death while some sustained various degrees of injuries during Tueaday's attack on the convoy of Ekiti State First Lady in Oye Ekiti.

The journalists were on the entourage of the First Lady for the advocacy tour which started from Moba Local Government and had a stop in Ilejemeje Local Government before arriving in Oye.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ekiti chapter, Rotimi Ojomoyela , condemned the calculated attacks on his members, urging security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.

Recounting how the incident happened , a journalist with Core Television station in Lagos, Sunkanmi Ogunmuko, said Erelu Fayemi was already conducting the empowerment programme at the civic centre in Oye Ekiti when the incident occurred.

Ogunmuko said the students came in their hundreds from both Oye and Ikole campuses and started destroying vehicles with sticks and other dangerous weapons.

"They destroyed over twenty vehicles parked outside the hall and wounded journalists and other participants who were mainly women.

:Dome elderly women were also injured in the fracas.:

"It was the security details around the First lady that alerted the entourage about the happening. They were the ones who summoned courage to remove all the bonfires and mounted road blockades before the first lady and some of the women were frisked out of the beleaguered scene.

"Most of the journalists were injured as the students, aided by some hoodlums, threw stonea, sticks and bottles at them, while vehicles conveying journalists and police vehicles were also attacked as they drove out of the town ".

Ogunmuko stated that the police had to fire teargass to disperse the violent protesters and create passage for the governor's wife and other participants to safely leave the hot spot.

In the process, one journalist with the FRCN was hit on the head, while others sustaines injuries. They were later treated at a private hospital in Ado Ekiti.

He admitted that the students might have been inflitrated by wild - looking thugs during the protest.

Meanwhile, the state council of NUJ has demanded a full scale probe of the incident with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.