By Victor Ogunje
The Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has ordered the remand of three suspects allegedly involved in the killings of two persons during the bye-election into the Ekiti East State Constituency 1 last Saturday at the Federal Correctional Centre in Ado-Ekiti.
The defendants were: Mr. Adenijo Olusola, 38, popularly called Solar, Mr. Paul Folorunso, 45, and Ms. Adebayo Serifat, 40, a female.
They were suspected to have committed the offence of conspiracy to wit murder and attempted murder of Babatunde Adeleye and Bola Adebisi.
The offence is punishable under Section 516 and 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State 2012.
An Assistant Superintendent of Police, M.A. Akala, represented the police while the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Julius Ajibare, appeared for the state.
The duo reached consensus that the state has taken over the matter and urged the court to grant the application of the prosecution.
In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Abdulhamid Lawal, granted and ordered the remand of the suspects at the correctional centre in Ado Ekiti and adjourned the case to April 19, 2021, for mention.
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers has made a passionate appeal to politicians in the state to keep the peace and stop bloodletting as witnessed in Omuo Ekiti during a bye-election to fill a vacant assembly seat.
The Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti and Chairman of the State Traditional Council, Oba Adebanji Alabi, spoke on behalf of his colleagues in his palace at Ilawe with a plea to all indigenes of Ekiti State to play politics without bitterness and killings.
The Alawe urged security agents to swiftly prosecute those found culpable of the heinous crime while urging the people of the state to remain calm and maintain the peace, which Ekiti State is known for.
A former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Dr. Sikiru Tae Lawal, has condemned the violence and described the development as animalistic and a show of shame by some armed thugs.
Lawal, a governorship aspirant in the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, said the killing of voters and security agents by thugs brought to polling units by some people was not only primitive but a big shame brought on the state and Nigeria as a whole by those who sponsored the thugs.
Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has described the attitude where the electorate and election officials were waylaid, shot at and killed by some as a threat to democracy.
Ojudu, in a condolence message, commiserated with the people, the royal fathers in the area and the families of the bereaved and injured persons.
He said: “Political office is about service. If everyone accept it as so why should anyone get so desperate to want to kill a fellow human being.
“If the family of those killed failed to get justice, God will certainly punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime and their sponsors no matter how highly placed.”
