The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and members of All Progressives Congress (APC), on a campaign rally yesterday were attacked and tear-gassed by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs and mobile policemen led by their commander, Selenkere Michael.
The policemen tear-gassed the governor and his convoy, as well as the cream of APC members who thronged the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for a sensitisation rally round the major streets of the town, shooting sporadically to disperse the crowd forcibly.
The attack resulted in the death of an APC member from ward 12 in Ado-Ekiti while several others were seriously injured.
The APC members, who were led by the interim Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, had gathered at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, for a sensitisation rally ahead of the forthcoming elections in the state.
The hitherto peaceful procession turned bloody when mobile policemen led by their commander in the state, Selenkere Michael, an indigene of Bayelsa State, pounced on the APC members, tear-gassing and shooting at them.
One APC member, who was shot in the head by the O/C Mopol lost his life in the process while many sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Three campaign buses of the APC were also badly damaged.
The interim Chairman of the APC, Jide Awe, and two members of the National Assembly from the state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, who were part of the rally, tried to dialogue with the O/C Mopol, but he told them off, warning that he was acting on orders and would not hesitate to shoot at them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, arrived the scene where the rally had earlier been disrupted 45 minutes later to intervene, but was also tear-gassed and his convoy shot at by the mobile policemen.
The O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, was involved in an altercation with the governor, saying he has orders from above, and threatened that he could even arrest the governor.
For more than an hour, the mobile policemen shot in the direction of the governor’s convoy, while the O/C Mopol kept uttering obscenities, one of which was that President Jonathan is his brother and that he was protecting his interest.
The Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Iyanna, surfaced over an hour later after he was reportedly intimated of the action of his O/C Mopol by the governor.
Apologising profusely, Mr. Iyanna denied knowledge of the action of the O/C Mopol.
“I am here to protect you,” said the police commissioner to the governor.
“You are here to protect me and your men were shooting at me. I am the Chief Security Officer of this state and your men were firing at me. You have killed someone now! You have killed someone! Whose interest are you protecting? Whose interest are you protecting?” asked the governor who could not hide his disdain and anger at the top of his voice.
Lending his voice, the senator representing Ekiti Central, Babafemi Ojudu, said the presidency was desperate to impose Fayose on Ekiti people.
“They want to impose Fayose on us. We will not allow this! We will fight back!” Ojudu warned.
The interim chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe and the Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, later jointly addressed a press conference where both the Commissioner of Police, Felix Iyanna and the O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, were given 24 hours to leave the state, otherwise the people may be tempted to rise against them.
Awe said he, Ojudu and Oyetunde Ojo tried to no end to dialogue with the O/C Mopol whose eyes were bloodshot and was clearly out of control.
“He warned us that he was not ready to listen to us and that it was the order of Mr. President that we should disperse. We wanted to dialogue with him but he replied us with bullets. One of his bullets hit one of us and the person died immediately. Three of our vehicles were badly damaged.
“The governor came about 45 minutes later and got his own treatment. One of his security aides were forcefully arrested by the O/C Mopol, who struggled to snatch his gun from him. All efforts to reason with the O/C Mopol failed. He went ahead to tear-gas the governor who stood his ground.
“Even if the Mopol Commander has the order of the president, this is Ekiti. The governor called the commissioner of police who reluctantly came an hour later. We have been hearing this…The information at our disposal is that the June 21 election in Ekiti is not just going to be against the PDP, but against the police and the Nigerian Army.
“What we witnessed this morning has confirmed this. That is why we are calling on Nigerians to prevail on the president. He was here yesterday (Saturday). While leaving, he stationed some of his men here.
Awe said if the president wanted to go to war, he should go to Chibok to battle Boko Haram.
“When a good president visits, it is to commission people-oriented projects. That is not the case with President Jonathan. He was here yesterday (Saturday) to commission his men to kill Ekiti people. We advise him to go back to Chibok if he wants to wage war. If they are looking for a state to hijack, not Ekiti. If we are backed against the wall, we will bite.
“We use this medium to tell the police commissioner and the O/C Mopol who have been instructed to shoot Ekiti people and who have demonstrated that this morning to leave Ekiti State within 24 hours. The people’s army are greater than the police or the Nigerian Army. The nonchalant attitude of the commissioner is to say the least unfortunate. If we are going for election in 14 days’ time and we are witnessing this, it is unfortunate,” Awe said.
The Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, recalled how the O/C Mopol had harassed three members of the APC who were arrested a couple of months ago in their cell.
Daramola said: “You would recall that I said that this same O/C Mopol, not only is he from Bayelsa, not only is he well-acquainted with Mr. President, he went into the cell to tell these people that he has a matching order to hunt us down. The experience of our people this morning has shown that there is a script. They even said they anticipated that we would come out this morning. We call on Mr. President to be indeed responsible. Leadership demands responsibility.
“We are used to adversity. Nobody should test our wills. Neither Selenkere nor President Jonathan has a stake in Ekiti.”
It would be recalled that Vice President Namadi Sambo at a PDP gathering in Abuja had said his party was going to the warfront in Ekiti and Osun states.
It was gathered that the Vice President had waited behind in Ado-Ekiti where he reportedly spent the night after the PDP rally on Saturday.