One killed in Ekiti impeachment crisis

The political crisis in Ekiti State turned bloody on Tuesday as a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Modupe Olaiya, was shot dead.
Olaiya was killed at Efon-Alaaye during a fracas between members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Freedom Online learned that the factional Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omiran, and 18 APC lawmakers were coming from Osun State to begin impeachment proceedings of Governor Ayo Fayose when PDP members engaged them.
It is not clear who shot Olaiya but a source said a member of the Assembly fired the shot that killed him. The PDP controls seven members in the House.
There was pandemonium as thugs opened fire at Efon-Alaaye junction. Peace was later restored by a combined team of soldiers and policemen at Ita-Awure.
A Hilux Van marked AA 363 YEK, conveying armed thugs to the Assembly, was stopped at Secretariat Road in Ado Ekiti. All the occupants were arrested.
PDP and APC members also protested at Efon-Alaaye, Iworoko, Aisegba, Ikere, Ise, Ogotun Igbemo for and against Fayose.
The pandemonium affected students writing their West African Examinations Council (WAEC) papers as they could not reach their centres.
In Ado Ekiti, thugs unleashed terror at Ajilosun, Ijigbo, Secretariat Road, Okesa, Ojumose and Old Garage.
Civil servants left their offices in a hurry. Traders shut their stores.
To forestall a further breakdown of law and order, Police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu, deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and anti-riot policemen to all the affected towns.
The House of Assembly Complex was sealed off by heavily armed policemen.
The Head of Service, Dr Gbenga Faseluka, and labour leaders were seen near the Complex with some workers, shouting that nobody has the power to impeach Fayose.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has called on President-Elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, to call APC members in the state to order “before they truncate democracy in the country”.
The minister, who described the APC desperation to seize power in Ekiti State through the backdoor as a dangerous trend, added that the APC members in the House of Assembly were capitalising on Buhari’s victory to cause crisis in the state.
He said the APC should stop behaving like party of bad losers.
The minister said: “In 1999, Prof Tunde Adeniran of the PDP lost to Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Adeniran congratulated the winner. He did not go to court. It was in 2003 that Adebayo lost to Governor Ayodele Fayose that they went to the Tribunal.
“Also, when Engr Segun Oni won election in 2007, these same APC people made Ekiti ungovernable for him. In 2011, when Fayose contested senatorial election and lost to Senator Babafemi Ojudu, he did not go to court. None of the PDP
National Assembly candidates that lost in 2011 went to court.
“Since they lost the governorship to the PDP nine months ago, they have refused to accept defeat. It was as a result of this desperation to steal Ekiti people’s mandate that Chief Omolafe Aderiye was killed.
“Today again, they killed Modupe Temitope Olaiya in Efon-Alaaye and one wonders why these APC people derive joy in shedding blood of innocent Ekiti sons and daughters.
“Why must there be crisis in Ekiti each time the APC elements lose power to the PDP? Should Ekiti State be held down whenever APC elements lose power? General Buhari must not let these desperate APC members in Ekiti State
drag his name and reputation in the mud by using his name to cause chaos in Ekiti”.