A taste of what the people of Ekiti State could suffer in the hands of their governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, became obvious on Thursday as Fayose ordered the beating of a judge at the Ado-Ekiti High Court premises of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, after landing a slap on the judge’s face.
His action caused stampede as people who had visited the court to watch the proceeding scampered in different directions. The judge and other court officials escaped through various exits, thus stalling the day’s proceeding.
Trouble started when Justice John Adeyeye, the sitting’s presiding judge, complained about security in the court premises following the menacing crowd of pro-Fayose thugs that had stormed the court.
Witnesses report that the judge had approached Fayose to instruct his “supporters” to give the court premises a distance, but Fayose got angry and shouted the judge down.
Obviously irritated by the judge’s persistence at explaining reasons why the crowd should not be in the premises, Fayose slapped the judge and ordered the thugs to beat him up.
Immediately he gave the order, about 20 thugs descended on the judge. He was beaten up and his clothes torn with nobody to rescue him, judiciary workers who witnessed the incident said.
As a result, the court urgently shut down activities and all officials disappeared from of the premises.
The police later stormed the place, fired teargas to ward off Fayose’s goons before taking Adeyeye to a private hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Thugs had earlier on Monday attacked a judge and some petitioners who wanted the court to decide on Fayose’s eligibility for the governorship election held on 21st June. Some of the injured victims of the attack are still in the hospital.
Condemnation Trails Fayose`s Actions
Meanwhile Minister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye has warned the E-11 group not to throw the state into chaos by attempting to use the suit it instituted to circumvent the will of Ekiti people freely expressed at the 21st June polls with the overwhelming election of Mr Ayodele Fayose as their governor.
Adeyeye, who described the desperate manner in which the E-11 case was being pursued as an assault on Ekiti people, added that why couldn’t those in E-11 mobilise Ekiti people to vote against Fayose and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls.
In a press release issued on Thursday and signed by the Minister, he said; “Ekiti people have spoken loudly on June 21 and I think what we should all do is to respect the wish of the people and in the interest of the State and its people, pray for the incoming administration to succeed.”
He said by electing their governor in such a transparent and peaceful manner, Ekiti people had shown to the outside world that they were civilised and capable of setting the pace in electioneering in Nigeria.
Adeyeye added: “No individual or group should do anything that will rubbish the good image Ekiti people built for themselves and the State with the June 21 election.
“Fayemi, who lost the election, congratulated the winner less than 24 hours after the election. In preparation for the inauguration of Fayose as the next governor of Ekiti State, a Transition Committee has been set up by the State Government.
“Therefore, trying to to obtain back-door judgment in a bid to truncate the inauguration of Fayose on October 16 is not in the interest of Ekiti State and its people and those in the E-11 should be made to know this.
“Most importantly, Ekiti people have the inalienable rights to choose whoever they like as their governor, and they have done that on June 21, 2014. E-11 and their sponsors should therefore leave Ekiti people alone to be governed by the man they freely gave their mandate on June 21.”
Reacting to the “power drunk” behaviour of the governor-elect, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) berated Fayose and his supporters. The Coalition through its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran condemned the action, calling for the hooligans’ immediate arrest and prosecution.
Adeniran said: “It is preposterous that a judge could be beaten up in this democratic dispensation. Nigeria must not be drawn back into the dark ages where rulers acted with impunity.
If Fayose does not have any issue to hide, why prevent the court from sitting? A similar scenario played out on Monday when suspected PDP thugs stormed the high court premises, attacked the trial judge, some litigants and judicial workers in the bid to prevent hearing in a case to determine Mr. Fayose’s eligibility for the June 21 governorship election.
“A situation whereby a governor-elect desecrates the third arm of his government-to-be, calls to question his victory at the polls.
“If Fayose does not have anything to hide, he should allow the court to sit. If he was actually eligible to contest, why prevent the judiciary from determining that? This case must not be swept under the carpet. The action is highly reprehensible and all those who got involved, from Fayose himself, must be promptly arrested, arraigned and adequately punished to serve as deterrent to other power-drunk leaders.”
Ekiti Govt, Lawyers to Sue Fayose over Assault on Judge
For daring to slap a High Court Judge sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, the governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, will face multiple suits, Huhuonline.com can reveal.
Fayose assaulted Justice John Adeyeye for complaining about the menacing number of thugs that stormed the court premises for a sitting of the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and urging the governor-elect to help instruct them to move away from the court premises.
A similar incident had occurred on Monday when thugs loyal to Fayose took the court by storm, beating up petitioners who had sought the court to decide if Fayose had the integrity to govern the state.
On Thursday, several vehicles belonging to lawyers, judges and other judiciary workers were vandalised in addition to victims who suffered various degrees of injury.
It was also learnt that the Police looked the other way while the thugs held sway at the court premises.
The judges, lawyers and other staff took to their heels to escape attack by the thugs. Judiciary workers later shut down courts in the state saying they were no longer safe.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ekiti State, Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, who reacted to the incident on Thursday evening, said he was suing on Fayose, but holding his lawyers responsible since they should have told him how to behave in court.
He said Fayose had suddenly become power-drunk banking on support from the presidency.
According to him, other lawyers who were either attacked or whose properties got lost and whose vehicles were vandalised would sue the governor-elect while the judge would take his case to the National Judicial Council.
Fapohunda maintained that the attack led by Fayose is dangerous for democracy and the principle of separation of power.
Meanwhile, the state Chief Judge, A. Daramola, has ordered all courts in the state to shut down until adequate security measures are put in place.
In a statement signed by the Chief Registrar, Obafemi Fasanmi, the Chief Judge noted “with increasing concern” the spate of attacks perpetrated by political thugs and their persistent presence in the premises of the high court Ado Ekiti in the past few days.
The statement said: “the sitting was disrupted and taken over. The judge was ferried to safety by police after he was threatened by the militants.
“On Thursday, another set of thugs invaded the premises of a court presided over by J.O Adedeye by beating up and tearing his suit while Police on guard looked unconcerned and uninterested as judges, magistrates, and other members of staff had to run for their lives while court properties were damaged.
“The court room of the Hon. Chief Judge was not spared in the orgy of assault and destruction as members of staff attached to his office were beaten up and his court record book torn into pieces by these political thugs who also invaded and disrupted proceedings at the election petition tribunal within the High Court premises in Ado Ekiti.”
Fayose’s Accuse APC of complicity in the assassination of his supporter
Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm over the desperation of leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to at all cost scuttle his inauguration by causing mayhem in the state that could lead to a declaration of a State of Emergency.
In a statement on Thursday night by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, he said their act of desperation started manifesting with the assassination of a PDP member and staunch supporter of Fayose, Chief Omolafe Aderiye, by APC thugs in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday night.
Aderiye, a former Ekiti State Chairman of the. National Union of Road Transport Workers ( NURTW) was killed at the front of his office opposite Ijigbo Roundabout, Ado Ekiti at about 8.30pm on Thursday by three APC gun men wearing police uniform and bullet proof vest.
Aderiye had followed Fayose to the Tribunal sitting on Thursday.
“When we raised the alarm few days ago about the desperation of APC leaders and members to cause trouble in the state and that they are threatening our leaders and members, some people thought we were only making noise.
“Only on Monday, they tried to use the judiciary to steal the mandate freely given His Excellency,Dr Ayodele Fayose, by conniving with some heartless and conscienceless judicial officers. It was God who exposed their evil deeds.
“Now, they have assassinated Omolafe Aderiye, who was not only a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but was the one who coordinated our security during the campaign for the June 21 governorship election which we won convincingly.
“We call on the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department of State Security Service and all security agencies to fish out the killers of Aderiye.
“The APC and their evil collaborators must know that there is no hiding place for them. Their evil deeds will always be exposed. The good people of Ekiti State who freely gave Fayose the mandate to lead them by God’s grace for the next four years are ready to stand and ensure the actualisation of the mandate,” he said.
The CPS added that no amount of intimidation and harassment by the APC would deter the incoming PDP government from providing quality leadership for the people of the state.
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