The Ekiti state police command has announced that it had so far arrested 19 people in connection with the murder of a former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, Chief Omolafe Aderiye.
This was as the Assistant Inspector-General in charge of Zone 8, Mr Christopher Dega and the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, met with traditional rulers, as well as other stakeholders, in a bid to restore peace to the state.
According to the state police command, investigations had commenced on the 19 people arrested in connection with the murder, adding that the level of culpability of each of those arrested was being determined.
The police said those arrested, including a female, were picked up between Saturday and Monday.
Speaking on the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Victor Babayemi, confirmed the arrests and said “all of them are still with us as we are investigating their levels of culpability.”
Eight traditional rulers, Oba Idowu Adamo Babalola (the Onitaji of Itaji and chairman of Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers); Oba Adebayo Adewole, the Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti; Oba James Adedapo Popoola, the Oore of Otun-Ekiti; Oba M. G. Adedeji, the Owa Ooye of Okemesi; Oba Olu Adegoke Adeyemi, the Alara of Aramoko; Oba Oluwole Ademolaju, the Oloye of Oye kingdom and Oba S. o. Ajiboye, the Onisan of Isan-Ekiti, attended the meeting.
Lakanu was said to have charged the traditional rulers on the need for them to maintain peace and help sustain it.
As of press time, Lakanu was still meeting with representatives of drivers’ unions, commercial motorcycle operators and sundry stakeholders in the state on the need for all and sundry to maintain peace and allow for development.
Meanwhile EKITI State governor-elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on
Monday, pleaded with the National Judicial Council (NJC) to conduct a thorough
investigation into the allegation of assault on a judge and other incidents in
the state recently.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja through Mr
Owoseni Ajayi, a former Commissioner for Justice in the state and former
chairman, Ekiti State Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), said the investigation, if
carried out by the NJC, would expose cans of worms in the state judiciary.
He also urged the NJC, legal officers and Nigerians
not to be swayed by the propaganda launched by the All Progressives Congress
(APC), but to look at all issues at stake dispassionately and be guided by the
truth.
Ajayi declared that all the news about Fayose
causing trouble in the state was just part of a grand plan by the APC to cause
crisis in the state, with a view to preventing the inauguration of Fayose on
October 16.
“What Fayose is saying is that the NJC should
launch a thorough probe into happenings in Ekiti State judiciary and through
that, the rot in the system will be exposed.
“A lot of things are happening there and there are
signs that some judicial officers are conniving with the outgoing governor, Dr
Kayode Fayemi and the APC to halt the inauguration of a new government in the
state.
“The current crisis is an agenda of the APC and
their sole aim is to try and get through the back door what the people of the
state did not give them on June 21, when they voted overwhelmingly for Fayose
and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he added.
The former commissioner said Fayose did not and
could not slap a judge, adding that “he cannot slap a house boy, let alone a
High Court Judge. The media propaganda that he beat up a judge is an APC agenda
to portray him in bad light, having failed to take his mandate through the back
door.
“The Ekiti State Attorney-General, Wale Fapounda,
has disclosed that he has spoken with the judge in question, and he spoke on
Sunrise programme on Saturday morning on Channels TV, where he made it clear
that the news that Fayose slapped the judge was all lies.
“Fayose did not enter Justice John Adeyeye’s court
because he had no business there. The tribunal venue, where Fayose went to, is
quite a distance from Adeyeye’s court. Then the pertinent question is, at what
point did they meet?. Investigation will reveal all this.”
Mr Ajayi noted that PDP leaders were aware of the
various petitions written to the NJC by APC leaders in Ekiti, saying
investigation would reveal the truth.