* PDP berates Fayemi over insecurity
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
A middle-aged man accused of attempting to kidnap a boy was last Saturday beaten to death by residents of Omuo Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The incident occurred at Iludofin area of Omuo Ekiti, where the deceased allegedly attempted to kidnap a seven-year-old boy, and was apprehended by angry youths.
An eyewitness revealed that the incident occurred around 2.30p.m. when the pupils were returning from schools.
The source disclosed that a man, who sighted the now-deceased suspect, had raised the alarm as he grabbed the boy and was forcefully dragging him into the surrounding bush.
The residents were said to have trooped out en masse and pounced on the suspect, and beat him until he relapsed into coma.
“The suspect was trailing the boy home from school. When he realised that he had reached a bushy footpath, he pounced on him and started dragging him into the bush.
“It was a man who was looking from afar that raised the alarm, and the people caught him (the suspect) in the act and beat him to stupor.
“It was later that the police arrived at the scene and took him to the station with the aim of taking him to the hospital for treatment,” he said.
While confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Abutu, said the man died immediately he got to the police station.
Abutu said it was one of the Chiefs at Iludofin quarters that reported the case to the police, which he said they acted upon promptly.
“When we got the information, the police rushed to the scene of the incident, but the man had already gone into coma by then.
“The mob action was very intense, but the police tried and rescued him, and the intention was to firstly take him to the station for cover before rushing him to the hospital for medical attention. Unfortunately, he died in the station as a result of the beating,” he stated.
Abutu said the suspect’s corpse had been deposited in the morgue at the Omuo Ekiti General Hospital, while investigation into the matter has continued.
The police spokesman, however, cautioned against jungle justice, advising that any suspect arrested should be handed over to the police for proper investigation and prosecution.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has counseled the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to seek help from his immediate-past predecessor, Ayodele Fayose, on how to tackle insecurity in the state.
The party said it was worried that Ekiti that was once adjudged as the most peaceful state in the South-west region, has experienced two major kidnappings within 24 hours, in which two people were killed, while the state government sponsored armed thugs now go about attacking people on the streets and their business premises.
A statement issued yesterday by the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju, said it has become necessary that Fayemi should ask Fayose to lecture him on how the issue of security of lives and property was handled when the latter was the state governor.
The PDP said rather than jumping from one place to the other, struggling to be the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023, Fayemi should face governance in Ekiti State and make the state safe for residents and visitors.
PDP said: “Last Friday, a policeman was killed while a Chinese engineer was abducted on Ado-Iyin Road in Ekiti State. The gunmen killed the police officer and shot another person in the process of abducting the Chinese.
“Also last Friday, Vicars of the First Baptist Church, Ikere Ekiti, Reverend Oladimeji, was killed by suspected kidnappers on Ikere-Igbara Odo road, while a Lexus car was snatched from a woman at gunpoint in covenant area on Ikere road.
“Even one of the state commissioners, Olabode Folorunso, was abducted in March this year and had to pay ransom to regain his freedom. Yet Governor Fayemi has not seen reasons to admit his failure in term of securing the people of the state despite claiming to hold PhD in War Studies.”
