The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ado-Ekiti

  • 2019: Atiku promises youths, women 70% appointments

    Presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar on Monday promised to run an inclusive government with 40 percent of youth and 30% of women accommodated in his cabinet if elected.

    He also stated his commitment to provide create jobs, security and resuscitate the weak economy to a vibrant one.

    He spoke at the PDP campaign rally in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, assuring Ekiti people he would not abandon them like the ruling party has allegedly done.

    Atiku said: “The good people of Ekiti state, APC has stolen all your jobs, now they want to steal your votes.

    “They did it in Ekiti and Osun, Ogun, Bauchi, they even stole in Kastina where they come from. I don’t know why they have to steal in their home.

    “This state has always been a PDP. When we paid a courtesy call to Ewi of Ado, he said he wants us to build the roads. We will complete all federal projects not completed, we will restore standard and quality education, so we can give you jobs.

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    “APC don’t know how to create jobs and don’t know how to give you 40 percent of our portfolios will go to youths while 30 percent will go to women and that is 70 for youths and women.

    “We know how to do it and we have done it before we will do it again”.

    The Director General of Atiku Campaign Council, Dr. Bukola Saraki urged youths to vote Atiku, saying he will give you jobs as he has given millions through his private business.”

    “There is no story, youths are the future, a leader has to make fulfilled promises but Buhari promised you jobs, security and to fight corruption, has he fulfilled his promises?

    “No! Atiku is a man who knows how to create jobs, secure the country and also fight corruption.”

    Speaking at the campaign rally, the former governor Ayo Fayose urged Nigerians to reject the APC, saying the party has ruined the economy and made life difficult for the downtrodden masses to live.

    “In Ekiti we will deliver, he that the gods will destroy, he will first make to run mad. That is the case of the current Federal Government but PDP will deliver Nigeria from their poverty and misrule”, Fayose said.

    The National chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Idris Ibrahim, to desist from actions that can plunge the nation into unnecessary chaos by attempting to subvert the mandate of the people in the forthcoming general elections.

    Secondus, who expressed optimism his party would win the presidential poll on February 16, added President Mohammadu Buhari has failed to fulfill his promises of job creation, fighting insecurity and surmounting the challenge of corruption because he is too weak to rule a complex country like Nigeria.

    He added that Nigeria needs a president that is energetic and ready to work 24 hours a day and not the one that would work for three hours.

  • Fayemi’s ex-commissioner, other regain freedom

    The abducted former commissioner of Governor Kayode Fayemi, Remi Olorunleke, on Thursday evening regained freedom.

    The Director of Administration, Gbonyin Local Government, Mr. David Jejelowo who was kidnapped on separate occasion was also set free by abductors.

    They were kidnapped on Monday along Ado-Ikare road and spent four days in the kidnappers’ den before getting off the hook.

    Olorunleke, who hails from Aisegba in Gbonyin local government area of the State, was Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Urban Renewal and Physical Planning during Fayemi’s first term.

    Speaking with journalists through a telephone call in Ado Ekiti on Friday, Olorunleke said he was kidnapped around 6.30pm on Monday and whisked away to an unknown destination where he was confined before his family was contacted.

    He said: “Yes, I have regained freedom after spending four days with the kidnappers.

    “It was a traumatising experience and I thank God that I came back alive.

    “We were two. I was there together with the Director of Administration in Gbonyin Local Government . We were both given freedom.

    Read Also: Fayemi denies plot to frustrate Atiku’s campaign in Ekiti

    “We were both set free around 5.30 pm on Thursday. I want to thank my admirers and my family for standing by me during this period.”

    Olorunleke called on the security apparatuses in the state to rejig and reinvigorate architecture to be able to live up to expectations of the citizens.

    The Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed that the two captives had regained freedom.

    Ikechukwu assured the police will continue to work round the clock to ensure protection of lives and property.

  • Ekiti orders security agencies to rid state of criminals

    Ekiti State Government has given marching orders to security agencies in the state to thoroughly search the entire state and rid out criminal elements.

    As part of efforts to strengthening the security architecture of the state, the government has decided to review the State Security Trust Fund Law.

    These were parts of the decisions reached at an emergency meeting of the State Security Council, held in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Wednesday evening.

    In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Yinka Oyebode, and made available to journalists on Friday, the meeting also resolved that it was necessary to visit key provisions of the law including the need to recognise informal security structures in the state as beneficiaries of the fund.

    The executive council assured citizens of the state that adequate security measures were being made to behedge armed robbery and kidnapping in the state and make lives and properties better secured.

    They, however, urged members of the public to cooperate with security agencies by providing them with information on any suspicious movement or activities within their locality.

    In a related development, the state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has appointed Brig-General Ebenezer Ogundana (rtd) as Special Adviser on Security Matter and Coordinator of the Rapid Response Squad.

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    The Kota Omuo Ekiti born retired general holds a Master’s degree in Security and Strategic Studies.

    He had served as Commandant, Nigeria Army School of Artillery and Commander 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi before he retired from the Nigerian Army in 2016.

    Dr Fayemi said: “Government would take every step possible to ensure that the people of the state live in an atmosphere of peace and prosperity that is devoid of crime and violence, adding that the menace of killings and kidnapping would soon become a thing of the past in the state”.

  • Fayose campaigns against Olujimi on social media

    Former Governor Ayo Fayose has gone digital in his attacks against Senate Minority Leader Biodun Olujimi.

    The battle between the two leaders has polarised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the January 14 visit of the presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar for a rally in Ado-Ekiti.

    Fayose and Olujimi had on Tuesday set up parallel PDP Presidential Campaign Councils with offices at different locations in Ado-Ekiti with their loyalists queuing up behind them.

    Olujimi, who represents Ekiti South in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, accused Fayose of drawing a list of members contrary to the one agreed by party stakeholders.

    But Fayose, in a video circulated on various social media platforms seen by our reporter on Thursday, called on the people of the state to vote against Olujimi in the February 16 National Assembly polls.

    Olujimi has former Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as main opponent in the battle for Ekiti South senatorial chair.

    Fayose, who wore a white long sleeve kaftan over a white pairs of

    trousers with a black cap to match, advised Ekiti electorate to vote

    Atiku and other PDP candidates expect Olujimi.

    The video, which lasts 13 seconds, has gone viral on Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms.

    In the video, Fayose said: “Ekiti Kete o, my name is Ayo Peter Fayose, Osokomole. My beloved teachers, my beloved workers, okada riders and entire people of Ekiti State.

    “I commend to you, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, our President-in-waiting. I commend to you all candidates of PDP in Ekiti except Senator Abiodun Olujimi.

    “That is, we must not return Abiodun Olujimi to the Senate. I know you will do exactly what I ask you to do.

    “I love you and may God bless you, this is Act 1, Scene 1.”

    But Olujimi said: “The right-thinking party leaders and members” are not surprised about Fayose’s latest campaign against a candidate of his party.

    In a telephone chat with our reporter, Olujimi who spoke through the Director General of her Campaign, Chief Bunmi Olugbade, said Fayose has a history of anti-party activities which reached a climax with defeat of the PDP in the 2018 governorship poll in Ekiti State.

    The senator, who described Fayose as a “wounded lion roaring ready to devour anybody he meets on his way,” said her campaign is on course and would not be distracted by the tirades of the ex-governor.

    Olujimi said: “Fayose has a chronicle of anti-party activism since his election in 2014 and you will recall that during the first anniversary of his return to power, he invited (former Osun governor), Rauf Aregbesola, an APC man to deliver the keynote address.

    “Fayose disbanded the state party structure which led to the defection of prominent party stalwarts after he disallowed them from having a say in the affairs of the party.

    “Eighty per cent of the candidates in other parties who contested the last governorship election left PDP due to high-handedness and dictatorial tendencies of Fayose.

    “At the height of the crisis in the party, Fayose vowed to drive the vehicle of the PDP aground and we were not surprised that he lost an election even as an incumbent governor.

    Read Also: APC ready to win February poll, says Akpabio

    “What he (Fayose) is doing is not a surprise to anybody but party

    members are prepared for him. We are not bamboozled by his ranting.

    “Party leaders at the national level and in the Southwest have

    excellent confidence in the ability of Senator Olujimi. She is not a

    person that can be rattled by the ranting of a failure.

    “The glory that was lost under the hegemony of Fayose will be restored under the leadership of Olujimi.”

  • Institute to revive campaign to deepen Insurance penetration

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), on Monday said it would step up its campaign to attract more Nigerians to embrace Insurance to protect their property in 2019.

    The President of the CIIN, Mr Eddie Efekoha told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that less than three million Nigerians had no type of insurance cover.

    He said the campaign would enlighten Nigerians and assist them to take up insurance policies.

    According to him, the campaign will also tackle financial exclusion and other related challenges.

    Efekoha said that in spite the long existence of insurance in the country, its penetration had not grown beyond 1.19 per cent.

    He said that as part of the agenda to commence the campaign, the institute would pay homage to traditional rulers of some towns and cities.

    The CIIN president explained that the essence of the courtesy visits was to enable the institute receive royal blessings and permission to embark on the campaign in their domains.

    According to Efekoha, the campaign is expected to boost insurance penetration by 300 per cent before the first quarter of 2020.

    “The boost will also engineer the insurance industry to increase its quota to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),’’ he said.

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    The CIIN president said that the institute had already paid homage to His Royal Highness, Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji in Dec. 2018 to solicit his support for the campaign.

    “Other cities slated for visits by the institute include Oyo, Ilorin, Ado-Ekiti, Lokoja, and Okene among others,’’ he said.

    Efekoha further said that for insurance to be viable like others sectors of the economy, stakeholders must also embrace retail insurance business that has been neglected.

    According to him, operators have over the years abandoned the insurance retail market thinking that there is no business in the sector.

    “However, they forget that people within the bracket contribute more to the economy,’’ he said.

  • Panic in Ado-Ekiti as gunmen kill man in broad daylight

    There was palpable apprehension in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti capital, on Thursday as unknown gunmen shot and killed a man whose identity was yet to be ascertained as at press time.

    The state police command confirmed the incident, saying its men had launched an investigation to unravel the perpetrators of the crime.

    An eyewitness, however, revealed that the victim was a motorist driving in his car before he was shot.

    “The deceased was in the car and the vehicle conveying the gunmen had hit his car at the back.

    ” The deceased then alighted from the car to complain over the reckless driving not knowing they were armed robbers and the daredevil bandits opened fire on him killing him instantly,” he said.

    According to him, the hoodlums after shooting the motorist fled the scene at top speed.

    The source said that the incident occurred at the busy Ajilosun area of the city.

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    “The incident, which created panic among the residents of the area, happened directly adjacent the popular Tosin Aluko Ado / Ikere Ekiti Motor Park at Ajilosun.

    “The deceased was shot in the head and stomach by his assailants,’’ he said.

    When the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) visited the scene, the man was still in the pool of his blood.

    He was later evacuated by policemen from the Ologede Police station and taken to the morgue at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti.

    Men of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, who had reported for work, fled the scene.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ekiti, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed the incident.

    The police spokesman said: “We have got the report about the killing and our men have swung into action.

    ” We are yet to know the identity of the deceased but investigation has begun into the killing,’’ he stated.

    NAN

  • Family demands body of FRSC officer killed by reckless driver

    The family of the late Adebomojo Oluwaseun, an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Federal Capital Territory Command, who was killed by a hit and run driver on Sunday, 16th December 2018 while on official duty has called for the release of his remains for burial.

    The elder sister to the deceased, Mrs Adeola George-Ogosi, who spoke on behalf of the family in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday called on well-meaning Nigerians to implore to the FRSC to release the body for burial in order to relieve the trauma currently experienced by the entire family.

    According to her, “Since the breaking of news about Seun’s death, the whole family has been in sadness, his mother and wife are currently on the hospital bed and doctors are still trying to revive them from the shock.

    “We were told by the FRSC that it has completed his autopsy yesterday, every necessary document has been filled and we are expecting his body to arrive today, only to be told that there is an order from above that his body should not be released.

    “This has caused us another trauma. We are appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to speak to the FRSC.

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    “We were told the driver escaped but the vehicle had been impounded, however, what has happened can’t be reversed but we must forestall the occurrence of another sad event in the family, which might be occasioned by the delay currently experienced in the release of his body by the Road Safety. FRSC, please release my brother’s corpse.”

    Mrs George-Igosi noted that every effort to convince the FRSC on the need to immediately release the body of the deceased and prevent imminent challenges to the family has been fruitless.

    However, efforts by reporters to speak with the FRSC official who has been relating with the family proved abortive, as his phone was switched off.

  • My husband will restore values of Ekiti people – Mrs Fayemi

    The wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Chief Bisi Fayemi, says her husband’s administration will restore long held values of the Ekiti people, in addition to fighting poverty and moral decadence.

    The governor’s wife gave the assurance in Ado-Ekiti on Friday while delivering a lecture entitled: ‘Reclaiming our Land, Restoring our Values: Beyond Slogan’.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the lecture was organised as part of activities marking the 2018 Press Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekitit State Council.

    Fayemi expressed optimism that the present administration in the state would introduce policies and programmes that would combat poverty and all forms of social ills.

    According to her, many of such challenges crept into Ekiti through the actions of compromising politicians.

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    In his remarks, NUJ Chairman in the state, Mr Rotimi Ojomoyela, lauded the governor’s wife for the lecture.

    He said it would go a long way in repositioning the lives of youths in the state.

    The chairman assured that the members of the pen profession in the state would work assiduously to ensure that the present administration realises its set objectives.

    NAN reports that the forum afforded Journalists in the state the opportunity to interact on mind boggling issues, especially on coming up with ways to restore the core values of the state beyond slogan.

  • Court remands Ekiti pupil for stabbing schoolmate to death

    An Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court has ordered the remand a 16-year-old pupil, Timilehin Kehinde, who allegedly stabbed his schoolmate to death.

    Timilehin, a student of Ado Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti, is facing trial for allegedly stabbing his colleague, Matthew Favour, in the chest on December 6 after school hours.

    They were said to be testing the efficacy of a charm believed to prevent penetration of weapons like cutlass, knife known in local parlance as “okigbe.”

    The incident forced an early closure of the school before vacation for Christmas/New Year festivities.

    Read Also: Fayemi reshuffles Ekiti Permanent Secretaries

    The suspect was arraigned in court on Wednesday after spending one week in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the State Police Command.

    The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Adesoji Adegboye, said he needed advice from the state Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and ordered that the accused be kept at the State Children Correctional Centre.

    The accused, according to him, will be cooling his heels at the Centre pending the receipt of advice from the DPP’s office.

    Adegboye subsequently adjourned the case till January 18, 2019.

  • 16-year-old student dies in ‘juju’ superiority contest in Ekiti

    A secondary school student at the Ado Grammar School, Ado Ekiti, Mathew Favour, died on Thursday following injuries he sustained in a superiority contest with a colleague on the efficacy of their charms.

    Sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident occurred in the evening within the school’s premises.

    The 16-year old was said to have been engaged in a friendly dispute with a colleague over the ownership of a ball before it degenerated into an argument over who had more portent charms.

    NAN reports that the late Favour, who was in Senior Secondary Class Two before his death, was allegedly stabbed in the chest and later died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

    The suspect, who allegedly killed Favour, has since been taken into police custody.

    Sources said Favour, an Ebira indigene from Kogi, was said to have initiated the encounter when he brought out a small axe and a knife wrapped in a white and red scarf and dared his colleague to a fight.

    However, his colleague was said to have overpowered him after a while trying, stabbing him in the chest with the knife and fatally injuring him in the process.

    It was learnt that the development brought activities in the school to a halt as other students and teachers alike fled the premises.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, said he needed time to react to the incident after getting a clearer report on the incident.

    Police officers from the nearby Odo Ado Division were, however, sighted at the main entrance into the school which had been shut.

    NAN learnt the police deployment followed alleged threats by the family of the deceased to embark on reprisal attack at the school.

    Confirming the incident, the school’s  Principal, Mr Ebenezer Falayi, said the incident  occurred at about  2.15pm after the school had closed .

    Falayi said the students had dispersed before the incident attracted teachers who  mobilised to the scene  to convey  the victim to EKSUTH.

    “This incident really saddened us because it could have been avoided

    “What I gathered from students who were at the spot of the gory incident was that the duo were arguing over who had superior power and the deceased had earlier gone home to bring all those weapons which could not pierce the suspect when used on him.

    “I was told that the suspect later overpowered him, collected the weapons and stabbed the victim in the chest

    “Our teachers, including myself, my Vice and Registrar alongside other teachers who were resident on campus here rushed him to EKSUTH. We even took the suspect along.

    “The victim was put on life support, but that could not help the situation, he died in the hospital.

    “I had to quickly call the DPO of Odo Ado Police Station who reinforced his men and contacted the police station at Oke Ila to prevent the suspect from being killed by highly enraged family members of the deceased.

    “The hospital insisted on doing the autopsy before releasing the corpse but the family resisted this

    “They later released the corpse to the family when it nearly caused trouble in the hospital

    “The police also took the suspect into custody. But I had to beg for security beef up around the school when there was a threat that 30 students will be killed in a reprisal attack Friday,’’ he said.