From Ekiti: Police arrest suspected killers of Bamidele’s supporter

The Police in Ekiti State on Wednesday said
they had arrested three suspected killers of
Mr. Foluso Ogundare, a supporter of
House of Representatives' member and
governorship aspirant, Mr. Opeyemi
Bamidele.
Ogundare and a female supporter of the
lawmaker, Mrs. Beatrice Ige, were
attacked and shot by suspected political
hoodlums during a meeting of Ekiti Bibiire
Coalition, Bamidele's support group, at
Ward 03 in Emure Ekiti on Sunday.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti
State Command, Mr. Victor Babayemi
(ASP), at a press briefing on Wednesday,
said the three suspects were arrested at
different locations in Ekiti State on
Tuesday.
The police spokesman however said he
could not disclose the names of the
arrested suspects for security reasons "as
investigation into the matter has already
been taken over by the Force Headquarters
in Abuja."
A reliable source however told our
correspondent that in fact four suspects
had been arrested and he gave the names
of the arrested suspects to include a
member of the Ekiti State House of
Assembly, Kehinde Boluwade; Olomi
Babalola, Yomi Adebayo and Ayo
Famojuro (a.k.a Ewenla).
Our correspondent, however, learnt that
another suspect was still being investigated
to determine the level of his involvement
in the matter.
Babayemi said, "The suspects are being
moved to Abuja for further questioning.
That is the information we are able to
release at the moment.
"I can tell you that the suspects were
arrested at different points outside Emure
late Tuesday night. They took to flight, but
what is important is that they have been
arrested."
The Emure Ekiti killing continued to
enrage groups and individuals in the state
on Wednesday even as Governor Kayode
Fayemi reportedly cancelled his visit to the
community.
Fayemi's media aide, Yinka Oyebode, said
the governor cancelled his visit to Emure
as a mark of respect for the victims of the
attack.
"Essentially, the governor called off the
tour of Emure Ekiti on Tuesday as a mark
of respect to the victim of the crisis. The
governor appealed to politicians and the
people of the state to refrain from resulting
to violence in settling political differences
and that they should continue to embrace
the path of peace which has been the
hallmark of the state," Oyebode said.
A group, Save Ekiti Coalition, on
Wednesday accused the state police
command of partisanship, saying the
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sotonye
Wakama, should be redeployed in the
interest of justice.
Convener of SEC, Mr. Lere Olayinka,
said, "The number of dead victims (as a
result) of political intolerance has risen to
six, and we wonder how many people will
still be killed before the 2014 election.
"Perhaps, if police and other security
agents had been alive to their
responsibilities by making sure that all the
perpetrators of previous political violence
in the state were punished in accordance
with the law, those who openly invaded
the meeting of Ekiti Bibiire Coalition in
Emure-Ekiti on Sunday would not have
had the effrontery to do so".
But the PPRO said, "We are not partisan.
It will be recalled that we once arrested the
chairman of the ruling party in the state
and the secretary of the Peoples
Democratic Party when occasion
demanded.
"These are lame and unfounded
allegations. Like I said, some cases are so
sensitive that you cannot just be making
indiscriminate arrests without conducting
proper investigations."