Two feared dead in Ekiti, Ondo, Jigawa clashes

 Supporters dump slain member at Fayemi’s office

PDP, CPC secretariats burnt in Hadejia

THE Federal Government yesterday declared as unacceptable and non permissible again the current orgy of violence in the polity.

To the perpetrators of the mayhem, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which met in Abuja, ordered security agents to bring them to book.

The Council, which reviewed the political violence across the country as the April polls approach, ordered that deft and swift moves should be taken by the security agencies to bring sanity to the political terrain.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who particularly condemned the situation, warned the political class, that the government would no longer condone lawlessness under any guise. While appealing to the politicians to respect the laws of the land and to put the nation first, Jonathan said every party must work hard to prevail on their supporters to be law-abiding.

As the government initiated action against the vice, politicians and their supporters in Ekiti, Ondo and Jigawa states were in the trenches, maiming, killing and destroying life and property.

In Ekiti State, violence broke out in Omuo-Ekiti, in Ekiti East yesterday with the police allegedly shooting dead a PDP supporter while attempting to quell the mayhem. Another resident wounded in the crisis was said to be in a critical condition.

Former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Femi Bamisile, reportedly escaped being shot but his driver identified as Femi Bankole was not that lucky as he was shot on the leg.

The situation was the same in Jigawa State, where supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) engaged in a free-for-all in Hadejia Local Council.

The secretariats of the PDP and CPC were allegedly burnt in the process by the angry supporters, who also destroyed flags of political parties were destroyed during the violent clash.

The same scenario played out in Akure, Ondo State, where supporters of the ruling Labour Party (LP) and the PDP clashed with seven people injured and one person feared dead.

The clashes forced residents to abandon their homes in the metropolis as gun-wielding youths took over the streets, in Iro and Obanla areas of the town.

Jonathan, in his response to the mayhem, said: “Violence cannot be an instrument” for attaining power in a democracy.

Minister of Information and Communications, Labaran Maku, who briefed journalists alongside the Minister of Internal Affairs, Emmanuel Iheanacho and Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Humphrey Abbah, quoted Jonathan as resolving to take decisive actions “against anyone, any party, any group that threatened the life and property of others.”

According to Maku: “FEC reviewed the increasing political violence across the country and the President believed that anyone seeking to lead Nigeria or seeking to participate in the leadership of Nigeria at any level is to respect the law of the land, is to respect safety of life and property. That is why today (yesterday), Mr. President called on all security agencies as we go into the elections to step up the effort to contain the violence.  He believes that no one is above the law. He believes that no single Nigerian is above the law. The campaign must show that we are prepared to lead our country to the era of stability. Democracy is about due process, it is about rule of law, it is about regulations.

“Mr. President, therefore, appealed to all politicians to respect the law of the land, to put Nigeria first, to put the lives of the citizens first. He calls on every party to work hard to prevail on their supporters to obey the laws of the land. Violence cannot be an instrument for getting power in a democracy.

The electioneering process is about persuasion, it is about stating your covenant with the people, it is about debate, it is about discussion, it should not be turned into warfare where people will come out with guns, with machetes, with sticks.”

Also, Abbah stated that “we will apply the law to all manners of men, to everybody without exception. So, please, in our collective interest, we want to appeal to everybody to run away from violence. Go and canvass for votes, go and cast your vote without resorting to violence.

“Government in its responsibility will arrest the situation. To those of us who are law abiding, we want to reassure you that your security is assured.”

The Council approved N5.830 billion for the procurement of 95,000 tonnes of grains as part of the strategic food security programme of the government.

Though there were conflicting reports on the cause of the violence between the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the PDP in Ekiti, some members of the opposition stormed the Governor’s Office in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State and dumped the body of one of the victims of the violence.

Those that were allegedly fell by the alleged police bullets included Ayo Kehinde Faluyi and Michael Ipindola.

The deceased were said to be supporters of Bamisile, a serving member of the Assembly and House of Representatives’ candidate for Ekiti South Federal Constituency 2 in the April polls and the police.

Led by the state PDP Chairman, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo and Bamisile, the irate party members stormed the Government’s House and dumped the corpse in serious defiance to the order of the policemen stationed at strategic points leading to the Governor’s Office.

The Mercedes Benz V8 Jeep belonging to Bamisile and with a special number, BAFEM, which was the acronym for Bamisile was riddled with bullets.

Bamisile and Olu-Ojo, at a press conference after the attack, fingered the ACN in the crisis, and called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim to investigate the killing and arrest the sponsors.

Bamisile alleged that they were preparing for a campaign rally in Gbonyin, one of the local councils in the constituency when the members of ACN swooped on them and wounded some of his supporters.

He alleged that ACN leaders later made report to the Police, whom he alleged stormed the venue and shot sporadically into the crowd and killed two of them.

The PDP youths, who massed at the gate of the new Governor’s Office, demanded to see the Governor, but could not materialize based on the information given to them that the governor was not around.

Olu-Ojo had to beat the security at the entrance by jumping the barricade before he was swiftly persuaded by policemen to plead with his people to allow peace to reign.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jimoh Mohammed, confirmed the violence but said the number of casualties could not be ascertained.

Jimoh said the command had been briefed about the incident, saying, “information at my disposal is still sketchy, but I heard there was an attack on some people in that town and we have sent more police there to maintain security.”

The state Chairman of ACN, Chief Jide Awe, in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, called for the arrest of Bamisile, claiming that he was responsible for the clash between the PDP members and the Police.

Awe posited that Bamisile had allegedly been sponsoring some thugs in the community to disrupt rallies organised by ACN and their billboards, which he said caused the provocation that attracted police attention.

In the Akure incident, police spokesman, Adeniran Aremu, confirmed that one armed youngster was arrested at the scene of the fracas in Obanla and that anti-riot policemen have been deployed to the areas to restore peace.

The PDP Publicity Secretary, Chief Yemi Adedipe, alleged that the Iro incident occurred when supporters of the party gathered to campaign for the House of Representatives candidate for Akure South/North Federal Constituency, Chief Adedayo Omolafe.

According to him, a notorious political thug, who live in the area led scores of other hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons stormed the venue of the campaign and insisted that PDP would not hold its rally in his street.

His LP counterpart, Femi Okunjemiruwa said members of his party were in Irele campaigning and that he was not abreast with the crisis in the state capital, adding that it was the members of the PDP that were always the aggressors in the area.

Confirming the Hadejia mayhem, Police Public Relations Officer, Abdu Jinjiri, told The Guardian that “police preliminary investigation indicated that the crisis erupted when a PDP senatorial candidate, Alhaji Abduláziz Usman Tarabu and his followers stormed Hadejia for a rally.

“Tarabu organised an unauthorised rally in the local council as a result of which supporters of the three political parties clashed, leading to burning of two political parties’ secretariats,” he said.

Jinjiri said there was no loss of life, adding that normalcy had returned to the area.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Mar 24 2011. Filed under Elections 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry