A witness, Oluyemi Oke, has told an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, that he does not know what killed a National Conscience Party (NCP) polling agent, Tunde Omojola, in the May 28, 2015 councillorship by-election at Ifaki-Ekiti.
Oke was testifying yesterday at the resumed hearing of the murder of Omojola.
The witness said he did not see Goke Olatunji, a former Personal Assistant (PA) to Governor Ayo Fayose, at Ifaki on the day Omojola was killed.
Omojola, who was based in the Netherlands, was a polling agent to his brother-in-law who is also the NCP councillorship candidate, Sulaiman Olabanji.
Oke, who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Adekunle Adetowubo, testified before Justice Adewale Fowe on the murder case, the first to be heard at the court.
Defendants in the suit are: Olatunji (first) and former Chairman of Ido/Osi Local Government Area, who is a House of Representatives member, Thaddeus Aina (second).
The defendants were represented by their lawyer, Adedayo Adewumi.
Oke identified Aina as the Ido/Osi Local Government Area’s chairman at the time (2005) but claimed that he did not know Olatunji.
The witness also claimed that he never heard Omojola’s name before the by-election but got familiar with the name during the poll.
He said: “I don’t know Omojola although he is dead now. I never saw him. I only heard that he died. I was in AD (Alliance for Democracy). I belong to Ward 1, but I was asked to go and monitor the election in Ward II, carrying out assignment by the community.
“On May 28, 2005, some people came to the polling unit where I was and chased away voters on the queue. They started thumb-printing ballot papers. My friend, Muslim Fadahunsi, came from another place, saying somebody had been killed.
“I didn’t see Goke (Olatunji). Chief (Thaddeus) Aina came to appeal to the people not to fight. There was a crisis in the town. I left the unit and went to my home. I don’t know what led to the death of Omojola.”
During a cross-examination by Adewumi, Oke said: “I was told that somebody died; I didn’t see the body of the deceased and I did not know what killed him.”
No witness appeared in the case of the late World Bank consultant, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola.
The matter was also called at the court yesterday.
But lawyer to the Omojolas and Daramola’s families, Tajudeen Akingbolu, told the court that the families were not carried along in the re-listing of the case.
The lawyer described the development as “strange” in the administration of justice.
He said: “These are cases that involve lives and they are shrouded in secrecy. The families of the deceased are not aware of this case. The prosecution has not reached out to the families of the deceased. This is strange to the administration of justice.”
Justice Fowe adjourned the two cases till August 1 for further hearing.
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