Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose was spotted late Sunday evening at the Johannesburg International airport in South Africa on his way back from a trip.
Accompanied by only one aide, Fayose joined passengers waiting to board the South African Airways 11 pm flight to Lagos.
He exchanged greetings with some of the Nigerian passengers who were surprised to see him.
The governor eventually joined the plane and sat in the economy section on the journey back to Lagos.
•Govt: 1,000 ghost workers discovered
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has condemned the two-month verification, “which has caused hardship for civil servants and teachers”.
It wondered why the screening, which should have ended in a month, has been dragging on without any ghost worker revealed.
The party advised Governor Ayo Fayose to stop deceiving workers over “failed promises to pay their salaries”, describing the verification as a “wicked tactic to secure workers’ cooperation”.
The APC in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, urged Fayose to come clean on how he had been spending Ekiti money.
The party said his comment on the state’s indebtedness was a callous way to deny workers their entitlements.
The APC expressed dismay that the verification had wearied workers, especially expectant mothers who are made to queue for hours waiting for their turn.
It maintained that Fayose has no excuse to owe salaries, judging by the empowerment schemes he stopped and the number of workers who have been sacked since he came to power.
The statement said: “We have heard the governor say that the state is broke and we can’t find merit in that declaration.
“The number of workers who were sacked and drastic cuts in the allowances and running grants of workers, including traditional rulers’, would have saved the state millions of naira.
“Governor Kayode Fayemi carried out verification only once through biometric auditing that brought sanity to wage payment system.
“We wonder why after Fayose did verification three times within seven months, the governor was still subjecting workers to unnecessary verification contraption.
“We in APC pity the workers, including expectant mothers, who queue endlessly in the sun waiting to do this ill-conceived exercise.
The governor assured that 48 hours after the exercise, the cleared workers would receive their pay.
“But two months after some workers completed the exercise, the governor has refused to pay, instead he is keeping workers for hours in the sun for the salary that would not come.
“As a result, the workers have become confused, dejected and despondent.
“Ekiti people have heard how N650 million is being deducted from source to pay the governor’s election contractors. For six months, Fayose didn’t pay kobo on the purported Fayemi’s over-bloated debts.
“Savings in millions are made from cuts in workers’ and Obas’ allowances and running grants, including the savings in millions from thousands who lost their jobs. Social security for 20,000 elders was also cancelled by the governor.
“The question is what is the governor doing with Ekiti money?”
But Fayose’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media Lere Olayinka said over 1,000 fake workers have been discovered.
He said: “Over 250 dead workers have been receiving salary through the e-payment system introduced and contracted to a Lagos based company.
“We have kept faith with our covenant with the workers by paying the April salary of those already cleared.
“As at today, we have discovered more than 1,000 people that were receiving salary fraudulently, out of which over 250 are dead.”
Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has sworn in caretaker chairmen for the 16 local government areas with the charge to take the “stomach infrastructure” agenda to the grassroots.
Speaking at the ceremony yesterday, Fayose demanded absolute loyalty from them as members of the same political family.
He called for rapid development of the grassroots based on their experience.
All but one of the caretaker chairmen were returned. Paul Oluwole of Oye Local Government was dropped.
Fayose had last Friday during the inauguration of the House of Assembly requested to dissolve the caretaker committees and reconstitute new ones.
Represented by Deputy Governor Kolapo Olusola, the governor urged the caretaker chairmen to bring their experiences to bear in the running of the councils.
“I appeal to you to be submissive to the governor. It is only a leader who follows well that can lead well. The stomach infrastructure is the baby of the governor and should be replicated and implemented in the local governments.
The new council bosses are Dauda Ajise (Ado), Peter Daramola (Efon), Falaye (Ekiti East), Olowo Joseph (Ekiti South West), Olasanmi Moses (Ekiti South West), Adebayo Joseph (Emure), Funke Odunlade (Gbonyin), Deji Odutola (Ido Osi), Owoeye Sesan (Ikere), Adeyanju Adeyeye (Ikole), Abiodun Dada (Ijero) and Ayo Oladimeji (Ilejemeje).
Others are Alade Toyin (Ise Orun), Sunday Olowoyo (Irepodun/Ifelodun) and Adeniyi Adebayo (Moba).
Governor Ayo Fayose sealed his conquest of Ekiti State with a victory parade through the streets of the capital, Ado Ekiti, last Friday, with a declaration and a warning.
Declaration: “I am a man destined for greatness and with the power of God, nobody can bring me down. I have defeated my enemies (emphasis added) during elections, and now I defeated impeachment.”
Warning: “Whoever thinks he could impeach his governor and the Deputy for him to become the Acting Governor always ends being destroyed. You have to learn from history. Those who impeached me the other time have died politically today.”
Fayose’s election on the platform of the PDP in June 2014 was the first in a long line of the conquests that have now established him as a modern-day conquistador. He conquered the incumbent governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and the ruling ACN.
But that stunning conquest was not enough. At his inauguration, fresh from taking a solemn oath to serve all the people of Ekiti faithfully, to be governor for all and not just his supporters, he vowed to drive out the ACN out of the South West, its traditional stronghold in the short term, and thereafter out of Nigeria.
As rule, conquerors don’t like sharing territory or power. It is everything or nothing. But here was Fayose, PDP governor, facing the daunting prospect of having to cohabit with a 27-member State Assembly, all of them elected on the platform of the ACN before it fused with other parties to morph into the APC.
By sundry inducements, he won seven of the 26 to his side. Bolstered by hired ruffians pretending to be members of the assembly and cheered on by a rented crowd, the seven promptly “impeached” the Speaker of the Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, elected one of their own to replace him, and proceeded to exercise the authority of the legislative branch.
The police dutifully provided cover for the proceedings and, together with Fayose’s people – truck drivers, motor-cycle taxi operators, truck drivers, motor-park touts, artisans, petty traders, the usual crowd, you know – barricaded the precincts to keep away bona fide members of the Assembly.
If you cannot persuade a person to be your friend, the Italian philosopher Niccolo Machievelli laid it down six centuries ago in his manual on how to win, exercise and retain power, make it impossible for that person to be your adversary.
This piece of wisdom probably came naturally to Fayose, who has no patience with book learning, which he regards as the opium of the elite. He made Ekiti unsafe for the 19 legislators who would not bend to his will. They fled to the safer and more hospitable clime of Lagos, there to continue the struggle through the judicial process to regain their place in the Ekiti Assembly, and thereafter use that platform to impeach Fayose who had had treated that institution with such blazing contempt.
They never returned. He mobilized his supporters to blockade highways leading into Ado Edo Ekiti to ensure that they could not return to the city under any guise or disguise. And in case they somehow slipped through the cordon, they would run smack into another band of Fayose’s enforcers from whom they could expect no mercy
Score that not just as a coup but as another conquest for Fayose – conquest of the legislature. But even that would be understating the matter: It was a victory against the right of free movement of persons and lawful goods across the territory of Nigeria or any portion thereof
There remained that other pesky third branch, the judiciary. Down the ages, no self-respecting conquistador has ever allowed it to function without interference, much less one marked for greatness by Providence, and against whom all weapons fashioned by the enemy will fail. So, the judiciary had to be conquered, too.
That turned out to be the easiest task on the conquistador’s agenda.
Set your enforcers on the hallowed chambers of the court house in the state capital to harass, intimidate and bully, roughen up and physically assault its officers, rend their robes and tear up court documents. Instill fear in them, those court officials in ermined raiments and black robes; primal fear, from which the police cannot deliver them.
The heavens did not fall. Rather it was the court officials that fell, and with them the machinery of justice in Ekiti State. Score that as yet another one for the conquistador: conquest of the judiciary.
Nor were these Fayose’s only conquests.
He conquered accountability. He claimed to have sunk close to a billion Naira on, of all things, an “integrated poultry project.” The scheme did not produce a single egg; yet, he could not be called to account, just as he has not had to account for operating the exchequer without lawful authority.
He conquered truth, by knowingly deploying falsehood so readily and so often that can no longer distinguish between actuality and his own fabrications
He conquered honour. “Call me a bastard if Buhari ever becomes president of Nigeria,” he said during the election campaign. Buhari took office nearly two weeks ago, but Fayose is yet to change his name.
He conquered dissent. By their support, he said during his latest victory lap, his enforcers had proved that “Ekiti will continue to speak with one voice.” Fayose’s voice.
He conquered and forced into a shameful silence or abject capitulation traditional rulers and elders, the custodians, if they are true to their station, of the mores, the value system of society.
Every one of these conquests was undergirded by Fayose’s earlier conquest of the rule of law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with the active support of the Jonathan Administration and the PDP, the deluded holdovers of which have been threatening lately to resist any attempt to undermine “democracy” and the rule of law and all that in Ekiti.
Fayose even conquered the most fundamental of decencies –the respect indeed reverence, that each person owes his or her mother’s privacy. Just to score a political point, he told the whole world that his mother suffered from an affliction of an intimate kind that is rarely mentioned in traditional society outside family circles and even there only in whispers.
In sum, he has conquered all that is noble and decent and of good report.
All that remains for Fayose the Conquistador is to conquer himself. Unless and until he does that, all his vaunted conquests will vanish before his very eyes like rainbow gold. The monsters he has spent his entire political life creating and nurturing may well devour him.
The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have refuted a report that Governor Ayodele Fayose had paid their outstanding salaries and allowances.
They claimed that the embargo on their salaries and allowances has not been lifted, adding that the payment or non-payment of their financial entitlements cannot prevent them from defending the constitution which they swore to protect.
A statement by Speaker Adewale Omirin’s Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said the report was mischievous, lacking the basic tenet of journalism to always report facts in place of rumours and unfounded allegations.
The lawmakers said they were shocked that the reporter did not dwell on their responses when he called them, preferring to file his report based on rumour, blackmail and outright lie.
They said: “It is shocking that the reporter chose not to believe us but overzealously believe in the purported sources that thrive on falsehood, lies and propaganda.
“The reporter in one breath said his investigation revealed that the lawmakers had been paid, yet he reported that both Fayose and the lawmakers did not confirm the report as they refused to talk to him.
“If this were the case, then who are the sources that confirmed to the reporter that the lawmakers had been paid?
“To make matters worse, contrary to the reporter’s claim that we did not talk to him, we told him at our end that we have not been paid.
“Apart from getting this fact from us, the Speaker’s media aide told him the same and so we are surprised that the reporter is claiming that he received no information from us.
“In fact, as at Saturday night, the alerts we received from our bank were debit alerts and so we wonder where the reporter got his story.
“It is unfortunate that just because the reporter wanted to file an exclusive report for his paper, he went ahead to report this falsehood motivated by blackmail.
“Let us even agree without conceding that we were paid our lawful entitlements, what favour does the governor do to us by that after illegally cutting short our tenure by seven months and putting us in harrowing inconveniences in addition to his brazen rape on the constitution?
“Must payment of our legal entitlements prevent us from defending the constitution which we swore to protect?
“Where are the indications of payment when embargo is placed on our accounts by the governor? Even those who should know in government are wondering where the reporter got his story because there was never any payment to the lawmakers.
“This is irresponsible journalism at its worst and it is unfortunate that this is coming from a reputable medium.
“We know that this is exactly what the governor would be telling the press when he conceded to pay us to forgo resuming our duties, which we rejected.
“When the reporter was calling the Speaker, his media aide and later the lawmakers, the response he got was that they had not received any alert.
“In fact as we speak, the governor‘s embargo is still on our accounts and nobody has been notified that he or she has been paid and so we wonder where the reporter got his information.”
Last week was a bloody and turbulent one for residents of Ado-Ekiti. A clash between commercial drivers and Hausa traders set the city on fire. As if that was not enough, the city’s main market was burnt by unidentified persons. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports that many may not easily recover from the havoc
Wednesday, May 20 was like any other day for residents of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. They had woken up that morning to carry out their normal day-to-day activities.
They never had an inkling that danger was lurking around the corner; they never thought that something akin to Armageddon was about to descend on the city.
In a matter of minutes, violent clashes erupted. Businesses and traffic were paralysed. Guns boomed and blood flowed. Suddenly, the bright azure sky was darkened by thick, black smoke billowing from houses and shops that were set ablaze.
It was bestiality at its worst. There was an orgy of looting. Money, vehicles, buildings, goods and other valuables were lost.
Fear and uncertainty descended the town. Nobody knew what would happen next. In a matter of minutes, the streets were deserted.
The phone lines were buzzing. Residents were placing calls to their loved ones to ascertain their whereabouts; giving them tips on where to avoid so as not to be caught in the crossfire and fiery darts being hurled by gladiators in the violence.
Independent sources claimed that three lives were lost but the police maintained that nobody died.
According to the police, 24 people were wounded and had been taken to undisclosed hospitals for medical treatment.
Commercial drivers and Hausa traders were the ‘actors’ in the theatre of war that rocked Ado-Ekiti to its foundation.
The clash was fierce in areas such as Atikankan (which has the highest concentration of Hausa in Ado-Ekiti), Old Garage, Ijigbo, Isato, Igbehin and Erekesan Market.
Business activities had been paralysed in places such as Irona, Okesa, Okeyinmi and Ajilosun.
Two of the victims reportedly died at Atikankan where the violence later spread to.
A cameraman working for a Lagos-based television station, CORE TV, Sunday Adigun, was wounded by hoodlums. They also smashed his camera while he was covering the clash.
The hoodlums were armed with guns, bottles, charms, machetes, cudgels, knives, petrol and matches.
Tension generated by the clash led to the closure of banks, shops, motor parks, markets and other commercial outlets.
What caused the crisis? What turned the indigenes against the Hausa? These were questions people tried hard to unravel.
The alleged robbing of a wife of a commercial driver of a sum of N36, 000 the previous night, it was gathered, sparked the mayhem. It was also gathered that the culprit allegedly escaped through Sabo which has a high concentration of Hausa.
Some source claimed that the driver’s wife was raped after she was robbed. This infuriated the drivers as they launched a manhunt for the culprit; demanding that he be produced by the Hausa who were accused of harbouring the culprit.
The drivers stormed all the known residences of the Hausa launching attacks while the Hausa also mobilised themselves in order to launch their own counter-attacks.
Ijigbo, Mugbagba, Oja Oba, New Garage and Old Garage turned to war zones, even as vehicles hurriedly deserted the streets.
The Bureaux de Change outfits operated by the Hausa were attacked and cash both in local and foreign currencies were stolen by hoodlums.
Heaps of destroyed items such as onions, pepper, tomatoes and dried fish apparently belonging to the Hausa were burnt with their relics littering the ground.
The Commissioner of Police, Etop John James led a team of police men in about 15 patrol vehicles to bring the situation under control.
The police chief’s presence brought normalcy to the scene where he was present but clashes continued in other areas.
James expressed regrets over the incident and pledged that the police would do everything possible to prevent the escalation of the mayhem.
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ekiti State has denied involvement in the mayhem which rocked Ado-Ekiti.
The State Secretary of the union, Akinsola Osundiya said the particular loading point where the violence occurred did not belong to the NURTW.
Osundiya faulted a report in a national daily (not The Nation) which accused members of the union of being involved in the mayhem.
Describing NURTW as a responsible union, Osundiya urged the public to discountenance the report.
Shortly after arriving from an official trip to Abuja on Thursday, Governor Ayo Fayose slammed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to prevent the spread of the violence.
Fayose, who gave the order while addressing members of the Hausa community in Atikankan area of the town directed security agencies to arrest anybody who flouts the curfew.
The governor, who appealed to the restive Hausa community for calm vowed that the perpetrators of the violence would be fished out to face the full wrath of the law.
He warned those still carrying arms to submit them to the police, saying anybody caught with weapons would be severely dealt with.
Fayose said: “I want to plead with you to submit whatever lethal weapon you have in your possession to the police. And if you refuse to do this, whether you are Yoruba or Hausa, the police will arrest you.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us and for the sake of our country, I plead with you to allow peace to reign.”
According to the governor, the violence would be thoroughly investigated and those found to be connected with the wanton destruction would be prosecuted.
However, the dusk-to-dawn curfew has been lifted on Sunday.
The Head of the Hausa community, Adamu Imam, called on the government to compensate them for the massive loss they incurred during the mayhem.
Imam told the governor that the names of the perpetrators of the violent attack had been compiled and would be made available to him and security agencies for necessary actions.
The State Police Command has disclosed that the number of those injured during the violence has risen to 24.
The command spokesman, Alberto Adeyemi refuted the claim of the eyewitnesses that three persons died in the incident.
He added that the police have stationed three units of mobile policemen at the scene of the attack, to arrest whoever plans to foment trouble between the feuding groups.
Traders who ventured out a day after the clash went to inspect the remains of their business centres destroyed during the violence.
A rice seller, Mrs. Ajoke Olofin, said all she laboured for had gone with the crisis, even as she called on the government to assist those who incurred losses.
She said the destruction and looting of her shop has left her business in the ruins; wondering how she would recover from the loss.
A Hausa trader, Adamu Umar wept uncontrollably while inspecting the ruins of his shop at Oja Oba. He called for government’s assistance.
He also called for the arrest of the perpetrators of the mayhem and prosecution of the culprits.
A widow, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Majiyagbe revealed that hoodlums burnt down her six-room apartment which had been her source of livelihood.
Meanwhile, non-indigenes Youth Alliance (NYA), the umbrella body for non-indigenes resident in Ekiti State, has condemned the attack on their members by some drivers, describing the act as uncivilised and bestial.
In a statement signed by its Acting Chairman, Abdurrahman Oziandu, the group said they never expected their shops to be looted in such a brazen manner, even when the security agencies are still active and deemed to be alive to their responsibilities.
The body, which praised Governor Fayose for quick intervention in resolving the issue, called on relevant agencies to beef up security so that their members can return to work without fear of being molested or intimidated by hoodlums.
Oziandu said mostly hit by the attack were Igbo, Hausa, Nupe and Ebira. He accused the assailants of reselling the looted commodities at cheaper rates to interested persons.
He said: “The event of Wednesday last week was the second in history, when some indigenes, hiding under their popularity in attacking whoever is not a member of their tribe over issues that could be resolved.
“We are giving this last warning that they should not allow this to happen again. As non-indigenes, we will continue to conduct our businesses peacefully.
“But we challenge the security agencies to protect the lives and property of our people. As we speak, about 50 of our members are still receiving medical treatments in various hospitals.
“We call on the governor to come to the aid of the affected persons, so that they can return to their businesses without delay.”
In another development, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti State Council, has called on the State Commissioner of Police to arrest those that launched attacks on some journalists in the state while covering the crisis that broke out among Hausa traders and drivers in Ado-Ekiti.
During the mayhem, the CORE TV cameraman in Ekiti, Adigun was attacked and his camera smashed by gun-wielding goons.
In a statement in Ado-Ekiti, the chairman of the NUJ, Laolu Omosilade, condemned the attack, saying it was highest point of barbarism in this modern time.
Omosilade urged Nigerians to take a cue from advanced countries of the world, where journalists are accredited and adequately protected to cover wars and more serious crisis.
He praised Governor Fayose and Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe for their concerns in stemming the tide of violence in the state. He urged the feuding parties to embrace peace and allow normalcy to be restored.
Although a curfew was in place, residents of Ado-Ekiti received greater shock on Friday last week when the Erekesan Market; the biggest market in the city, was set ablaze by yet-to-be-identified individuals.
Tongues are wagging in Ado-Ekiti how the hoodlums found their way to the market otherwise known as Oja Oba (king’s market) despite the deployment of regular and riot policemen in the wake of the curfew.
Humanitarian crisis is also looming with the evacuation of the Hausa to the outskirts of nearby Ikere-Ekiti to prevent further clashes with commercial drivers.
Many of the traders were woken up from their sleep as early as 1:30 a.m. by calls from residents who had gotten wind of the inferno and alerted them to go and evacuate their shops before the fire does further damage.
Worst hit by the fire incident was a section of the market known as “Lagos Line” which has the highest concentration of textile shops, supermarkets, gifts shop and other items.
Not less than 50 shops and two residential buildings were completely burnt down in the early morning fire.
The fire still raged till about 5:00 a.m. but most of the shops were still smoldering at 7: 00 a.m. when reporters got to the scene.
Men of the State Fire Service who got to the scene of the incident could not put out the fire.
A thick pall of mourning and gloom enveloped the market as the affected traders, members of their families and friends wailed inconsolably; bemoaning their losses which they described as “very huge”.
Some of them fainted on sighting their shops which had been reduced to ashes by the fire.
Some indigenes of Ado-Ekiti regarded the attack as a reprisal by the Hausa settlers who were mostly affected by the attack of Wednesday carried out by suspected members of drivers’ unions.
Many residents who were on their way to their workplaces had to go home on sighting thick smoke billowing from the market; giving a signal that “the city was on fire.”
Most of the schools were shut as students and pupils hurriedly returned home while those yet to leave their homes did not bother to venture out.
Banks, petrol stations, motor parks, corporate offices and other commercial centres were closed.
Truck-load of mobile and regular policemen as well as soldiers were immediately drafted to the scene on the orders of the state government to prevent escalation of the crisis and prevent massive looting.
A number of residents were also randomly arrested by men of the state police command in connection with the development.
Governor Fayose, who personally led security team that included the Commissioner of Police to the scene, expressed worry at the turn of event despite his imposition of dusk-to-dawn curfew which was lifted on Sunday.
He said the incident would not, in any way, compel him to declare a 24-hour curfew as suggested by some people.
Governor Fayose ordered that four ASHOK LEYLAND luxury buses belonging to government be immediately mobilised to convey all Hausa residents (including women and children) to Shasha, located at the outskirts of Ikere-Ekiti.
The governor, who, for more than three hours, personally monitored the evacuation, premised his action on the fact that he is a father to all residents, irrespective of their tribe, religion or gender.
He said the Hausa community would be at the new place for the time being, and would be heavily guarded by both soldiers and mobile policemen.
James disclosed that the police worked tirelessly from 1:00 a.m. to prevent what could have degenerated into an uncontrollable situation.
He hailed the governor for racing to the scene to team up with the police to prevent the crisis from getting out of hands when he (Fayose) was called in the early hours of the day.
James warned that the police have been mobilised to deal with troublemakers; assuring law-abiding residents of their safety in the pursuit of their legitimate businesses.
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, visited the community to sympathise with them over the losses it incurred during the violence that rocked Ado-Ekiti last week.
Fayemi, who visited the community at Shasha, on the outskirts of Ikere-Ekiti where they had been relocated, promised that the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration would assist them.
The ex-governor also paid an on-the-spot assessment visit to the Erekesan Market that was burnt by unidentified persons to inspect the level of damage.
He also visited the Oba Adejugbe to commiserate with him over the mayhem unleashed on the city twice within the week and the spate of kidnapping recently witnessed in the state.
The former governor, who was at the palace in company of officials who served in his administration, said his visit was to identify with the Ewi and the people of Ado-Ekiti over the civil disturbances and the torching of the Erekesan Market.
He urged residents of Ekiti to unite and fight against kidnapping and other violent crimes for the state to witness peace and development.
Fayemi said kidnapping of Ekiti professionals and other innocent people is unacceptable and must not be allowed to fester so that the state would be a destination for investors.
He regretted the negative image Ekiti has acquired in recent times, which he said is affecting the economy, adding that operators of the hospitality industry are complaining of low patronage on account of the security situation in the state.
Fayemi said: “Some of my colleagues and friends would have accompanied me to Ekiti but many of them declined the invitation as a result of the spate of violence and kidnapping.
“I don’t think Ekiti deserves this negative label which is why I am calling on well-meaning indigenes of this state to join hands with those who are willing to return peace to the state.”
Fayemi expressed sadness that the good relationship that hitherto existed among Ekiti indigenes and Hausa settlers had become strained; leading to massive destruction of property.
He called on all Ekiti people and other stakeholders to join hands against the twin evil of violence and kidnapping which, according to him, are strange to the culture of the land.
Responding, Oba Adejugbe appreciated Fayemi for his visit, urging the former governor not to rest on his oars in ensuring that peace reigns in the state.
The monarch revealed that a committee, which is made up of major stakeholders, has been constituted to take an inventory of the property damaged during the clash, explaining that the committee had swung into action.
Oba Adejugbe described Ekiti people as “very accommodating”. He urged them to live in peace with other Nigerians and never to allow the relationship to be marred by primordial sentiments.
Partisan interests are cashing in on the development to express their positions on what they felt was the genesis of the bedlam.
But Fayose has warned politicians and political parties against politicising the recent breach of security and public peace in the state.
The main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Governor Fayose should be held responsible for various acts of violence in the state, saying the current spread of violence in the state capital had the imprints of the usual government-orchestrated violent acts to achieve a pre-determined end.
Reacting to the recent violent acts rocking the state, APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, regretted that Ekiti people were used to the government-inspired violent acts, which they experienced between 2003 and 2006 during the governor’s first stint and so there was little to worry about on the same pattern of serial violence that was rocking the state.
“We had, on several occasions, raised the alarm over importation of thugs who are quartered in the Government House. Since their arrival, Ekiti State has slid to the era of one-day-one trouble that characterised Fayose’s government between 2003 and 2006.
“Eminent lawyer, Femi Falana, also raised the same concern, calling on the governor to send away his thugs to allow peace to reign in Ekiti State,” Olatubosun said.
The party sympathised with Hausa and Igbo traders, who it described as victims of government-inspired violence to create a sense of insecurity to enable the governor to devise extra-security measures that would allow him to achieve a pre-determined end.
The APC spokesman urged the security agencies to consider treating the party’s petitions on various acts of violence by the thugs kept in Government House and devise a means of ending violence in Ekiti State.
“We recall various unprecedented attacks on our members, their houses, our offices and tearing or burning down of the posters and billboards of our candidates during electioneering campaigns over which we petitioned the National Human Rights Commission.
“After the elections, kidnappings began. Now is the time pit the thugs against Hausa and Igbo traders to create ethnic tension that has the potential for national crisis while at the same time the governor is planning to inaugurate the new House of Assembly on June 1 to create anarchy.
“It is regrettable that we are back to the era of one-day-one trouble that marked out Fayose as a man that thrives in violence,” he said.
A former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Olufemi Bamisile, has expressed dissatisfaction on the recent attacks on the Hausa community by yet-to-be-identified hoodlums.
Bamisile said it was a ploy to deliberately attack the Hausa because they mobilised and voted for the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) against Fayose’s directive to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan.
Bamisile claimed that the latest round of crisis in Ekiti was a deliberately-orchestrated game to declare curfew in the state so that the embattled G-19 lawmakers of the State House of Assembly would not be able to discharge their constitutional responsibility of putting the integrity of the governor on check.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti, Bamisile, a chieftain of the APC said: “What if I tell you that Governor Fayose orchestrated this game just to call the dog a bad name so as to hang it?
“Authoritatively, we have intelligence report in the APC that he was informed ahead of time about the crisis and he neglected the said report. He did it deliberately to punish the Hausa because they voted for Buhari against President Jonathan.
“You will recall that he threatened fire and brimstone during his hate campaigns all through the electioneering period. He said he was going to chase away all the Hausa from Ekiti State if they voted against Goodluck Jonathan during one of his many hate speeches in Ekiti.
“He started by sending all the Watermelon sellers away before his thugs went ahead to destroy all the properties of the business-loving Hausa. He has now moved them away to the outskirts of the state in fulfilling his hate campaign promises to the community.”
Bamisile said the governor’s action of addressing the violence and arson against the Hausa was belated, therefore enabling a jungle justice environment for all the interested parties.
“Does it not sound unreasonable and fishy that the governor decided to address the violence between the Hausa and his group only after four days that the Hausa were attacked?
“Not even a Mobile Policeman (MOPOL) was deployed throughout the four days, until when the properties and businesses of the gentlemen and investors were completely set ablaze.
“My justification of this is certain that even during the governor’s dusk-to-dawn curfew; some arsonists invaded the popular Oja Oba Market and burnt down all the market stalls where the Hausa reside.
“It is a ploy to burn the Hausa while they were asleep. The question is, who must have done this successfully without a security cover? He also said he was surprised to learn that it was the APC that caused the security breach and a plan to justify his impeachment.
Bamisile concluded: “I was shocked to hear the State Chief Security Officer to say that APC caused the mayhem. Was it the APC that staged the attack on the Hausa community?
The war against kidnapping waged by the Ekiti State government in conjunction with security agencies has started yielding fruit with the arrest of two kidnap suspects.
The wife of the head of the kidnapping syndicate was also arrested. All three are undergoing interrogation.
Governor Ayo Fayose announced this in a broadcast yesterday night.
The governor said Olumide (31) and Folorunsho both from Esure-Ekiti were arrested between Ikere and Iju while trying to escape.
According to him, the wife of the leader of the kidnappers, Austin, who was believed to be preparing food and taking care of the victims, was also arrested.
A manhunt has been launched for the remaining five kidnappers, who are believed to hail from Benin, Edo State.
Fayose said three people who accommodated them were also arrested. He said his government is planning to enact a law that will empower the police to arrest landlords of criminals, prosecute them and also demolish the buildings accommodating them.
The governor advised residents, particularly residents of Atikankan and Bata in Ado-Ekiti, to report any suspicious person to the police.
He also warned security personnel who have been serving as informants to criminals to desist.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has opened a rehabilitation camp to feed over 2000 displaced Hausa in Ekiti State.
The agency set up the camp at Shasha, on the outskirts of Ikere-Ekiti, where the displaced persons were relocated to prevent further clashes between them and commercial drivers.
Apart from feeding the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), NEMA has also provided them with relief materials.
In a statement yesterday by NEMA Head of Ekiti Operations, Saheed Akiode, the agency said the relief materials had been distributed directly to the IDPs in collaboration with the Chairman of Hausa Community, Adamu Imam.
While appealing for calm at the camp, Akiode said the Federal Government cares about the victims and would do everything to improve their conditions on camp.
“The NEMA Ekiti Operations Office moved swiftly to assess the situation on Friday and immediately came in to the rescue of the displaced persons being camped at Shasha market.
“ NEMA provided them with beddings, household materials, food stuffs, toiletries and other forms of requisite logistical support to make the camp habitable.
“Since the beginning of the rehabilitation support at the camp, NEMA officials have been on ground providing three square meals to the displaced persons, including women and children.”
Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said all the negative news from the state was affecting its economy.
The former governor spoke yesterday when he visited the Hausa community to show his sympathy over the losses it incurred in the violence that rocked Ado-Ekiti last week.
Fayemi, who visited the Hausa at Shasha, on the outskirts of Ikere-Ekiti, where they had been relocated, promised that the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration would assist them.
The ex-governor inspected the burnt Erekesan Market.
He visited the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, to commiserate with him.
The former governor, who was accompanied by some officials of his administration, said his visit was to identify with the people during these trying times.
He urged all Ekiti people to unite and fight against kidnapping and other crimes for the state to witness peace and development.
Fayemi said kidnapping is unacceptable and must not to be allowed to fester for the state to be investors’ haven.
He said the negative image Ekiti has acquired in recent times is affecting its economy.
Fayemi said: “Some of my colleagues and friends would have accompanied me to Ekiti but many of them declined the invitation as result of the spate of violence and kidnapping.
“I don’t think Ekiti deserves this negative label, which is why I am calling on well meaning indigenes to join hands with those who are willing to return peace to the state.”
Fayemi expressed sadness that the good relationship that existed between indigenes and Hausa settlers had become strained.
He called on stakeholders to join hands to end the twin-monsters, “which is strange to the culture of the land”.
Oba Adejugbe thanked Fayemi for his visit, urging the former governor not to rest on his oars in ensuring that peace reigns in the state.
The monarch said a committee had been set up to take an inventory of the property damaged during the clash.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State is embroiled in another crisis over who will represent Ado Ekiti Constituency 1 in the House of Assembly.
The battle over who represents the constituency is between the winner of the November 29, 2014 primary, Odunayo Talabi and his agent, Musa Arogundade.
Talabi, who is popularly known as Arinka, is accusing the party of “fraudulent substitution” of his name at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after winning the primary.
He is also aggrieved that a suit was filed at a Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of Arogundade by the party, which claimed that he did not win the Assembly primary and sought an injunction restraining him from parading himself as the PDP candidate for Ado Constituency one.
According to the PDP primary result endorsed by electoral officer, Oluwole Ojo and Returning Officer, Abiona Oluremi, Talabi scored 34 votes while the second contestant, Obayemi Toyin scored one.. The number of accredited delegates was 37.
In a letter to INEC through his lawyer, Akinyemi Omoware, Talabi maintained that he was the winner of the primary held on November 29 and the Assembly election held on April 11.
Apart from having his name published on the INEC list, Talabi claimed that he was declared winner of the poll at units and wards upon collation of results.
The letter reads: “As your (INEC) Office may wish to know our client was not aware of any case needless to say being served any court process respecting the said suit.
“Arogundade Samuel Musa was the agent of our client at the party’s (Assembly) primary held on 29th November, 2014 whereas our client was declared the winner of the primary election. He (Arogundade) indeed endorsed the result sheet of the primary as such.
“The opponent of our client who participated and contested the primary with him was Obayemi Toyin, who did not contest the result of the primary.
“Arogundade Samuel Musa indeed served as the PDP party agent at Unit 08 of Ward 3, Ado Local Government in the poll conducted on April 11. He indeed endorsed the result sheet at the unit as such.
“Against the backdrop of the foregoing, it is bizarre how a candidate in an election could at the same time be a party agent at the same election.
“Much worse is if a person who never participated in the party’s primary nor had any nomination papers with your Office could claim to be the candidate of a party to overreach the lawful candidate.
“In the circumstance, we are suspecting criminal, connivance by your office with Arogundade Musa and his ilk in perpetrating this criminal act of forgery, alteration, impersonation and tampering with INEC materials in a manner prejudicial to the rights and interest of our client.
“Pleas note that much as we expect your office to take necessary action, we are by this letter informing you and law enforcement agencies of the criminal acts perpetrated for discreet investigation.
“It is common knowledge that the days of impunity and gross abuse of powers, offices and positions are gone by.”