Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has protested the killing of a member of the party in the state, Mr. Willy Ayegoro, who was shot by unknown gunmen.
An eyewitness said Ayegoro, a member of APC in Ado Ekiti Local Government Area, was killed at Atikankan, a notorious area of the capital city on Wednesday night.
Ayegoro was said to have been shot in the head along the Irona-Atikankan road by two gunmen, who fled the scene immediately.
The killing was said to have rattled passers-by and those around the vicinity of the incident, who fled in different directions for safety.
“The people around that place ran after the men but they were faster and escaped through bike that conveyed them,†an eyewitness said.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State Command, Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, said the command had not been briefed.
Ikechukwu said proper actions would be taken if the incident were confirmed to be true.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the party has protested the killing of its members by gunmen in recent time.
A statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said it was sad that Ekiti State was sliding into murderous years of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s administration when political killings were the order of the day.
The party said the killing came hours after an early morning gun attack on the hotel owned by former APC governorship aspirant, Dr. Wole Oluyede, by suspected thugs, who were allegedly heard by a night guard raining curses on Oluyede and threatening to destroy his hotel .
“Early yesterday morning, Oluyede’s hotel was invaded by gunmen, who were issuing threats to the physician. The assailants didn’t leave the hotel premises until they destroyed the billboard Oluyede donated to APC governorship candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi. This was followed by the attack on Willy, who was confirmed dead at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.
“We call on the security agencies to investigate these incidents to get to the root of the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice. But we warn that our party will not be intimidated by all these violent attacks to cow our members. We say no to needless blood-letting. Ekiti people in the last three years have been able to know who loves them between our candidate, Dr Kayemi, and Governor Ayodele Fayose,†he said.
“Ekiti people have made up their minds to vote against an oppressive system run by Fayose and there is no amount of intimidation that will distract APC from ensuring that Ekiti people have a peaceful election that will return our candidate as governor so that our people can return to the peace and security they enjoyed during Fayemi’s first term between 2010 and 2014,†he added.
