Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti
State capital, further descended into chaos Friday morning with rampaging
thugs, believed to be loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] and the
National Union of Road Transport Workers [NURTW] charging around the city and
unleashing violence on residents and properties.
Already, the campaign office of Governor
Kayode Fayemi and the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
located at the Ajilosun area of the city, have been torched.
The spokesperson for the Ekiti State command
of the police, Olu Babayemi, confirmed the incident, saying the command had
poured officers on the streets to contain the situation.
“There was a protest in town but the police
have moved in,” Mr. Babayemi said.”For now, we are trying to restore normalcy
and ensure lives and property are secured.”
Mr. Babayemi confirmed that the APC
secretariat and Mr. Fayemi’s campaign office had been vandalised and torched.
The immediate cause of the violent protest is
unclear, but the city has been on the edge since Monday when thugs believed to
be sympathetic to the PDP stormed a court and attacked the judge, O. Ogunyemi,
who was hearing a case concerning the eligibility of Governor-elect, Ayodele
Fayose, for the recent governorship election in the state.
The court sitting was disrupted, litigants
were beaten while the judge was ferried to safety by police after he was
threatened by the militants, the state chief judge explained on Thursday.
On Thursday, another set of political thugs
backing Mr. Fayose descended on another court, attacking a judge and other
staff.
The assailants attacked Justice John Adeyeye,
beating him up and ripping his clothes for being allegedly rude to Mr. Fayose.
The pandemonium that ensued scuttled the Ekiti
State Governorship Election petition Tribunal sitting billed for the day at the
High court, Ado-Ekiti, as judicial workers abandoned their duty post and ran
for safety, witnesses and the state judiciary authority said.
In response to the attacks, the state Chief
Judge, A. Daramola, ordered all state courts to remain closed until adequate
security measures are in place, according to a statement by Chief Registrar Obafemi
Fasanmi
No comments:
Post a Comment