The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has asked the police to arrest the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ajayi Owoseni; and Governor Ayodele Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, over their alleged roles in the manipulation of investigation into the murder of drivers union leader in the state, Omolafe Aderiye.
The call came on the heels of a confessional statement by the prosecution’s star witness, Gbolahan Okeowo, who on Monday in court recanted his earlier statement implicating APC members.
Those implicated by Okeowo included Adeniyi Adedipe (aka Apase), Sola Adenijo (aka Solar), Rotimi Olanbiwonnu and Deji Adesokan (aka Jaru, who is still on the wanted list of the police) as suspects in the murder.
Okeowo had during the last hearing of the case listed the men as Aderiye’s murderers. But on Monday, he recanted his earlier statement, saying he was not at peace with his conscience in the implication of innocent men facing death for the crime they knew nothing about.
In an affidavit in support of his claim, Okeowo said Owoseni and Olayinka allegedly tore his original statement and both men took him to Owoseni’s office where they wrote another statement with a list of those to be implicated.
Also in the affidavit, Okeowo said he was forced to implicate Adedeji as the one who pulled the trigger and later came back to the scene to confirm that Aderiye was stone dead before fleeing the scene.
But all that changed on Monday in court when the witness told Justice Lekan Ogunmoye that he could not stand the guilt of being the cause of the death of four men for the crime they did not commit.
Reacting to the development, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in the state, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said the latest revelation by the principal prosecution witness pointed to the culpability of Fayose’s aides in their attempt to obstruct the course of justice in the murder trial.
Olatunbosun said: “We have always insisted that Governor Fayose was bent on crippling APC as he often boasted while campaigning and as demonstrated during the election by using federal might in the military to rig the election during which our leaders were herded into jail over trumped-up charges.
“The trend continued after the governorship election to have more APC supporters in jail and this time the targets were active young members of APC who could work for APC success in the parliamentary elections.”
Olatunbosun said it was gratifying that the police had declared that none of the suspects was arrested at the murder scene, clearing the way for the only witness, Okeowo, who was at the scene, to tell the truth about what happened, but was now being criminally suborned by the governor’s aides to implicate innocent APC members who have been languishing in jail since last year.
He added: “In his sworn affidavit, Okeowo, who was the late Aderiye’s personal assistant, declared that he was the only witness to the murder and that he was forced by Ajayi Owoseni and Lere Olayinka to abandon his original statement to the police and court to lie against APC members as the murderers of his boss.
“We want the police to immediately arrest Owoseni and Olayinka to explain their motives for tearing the witness’ statement and substituting it with the one they wrote and then suborned the witness to lie against innocent men.
“Olayinka’s denial at a press conference that he did not have any hand in the manipulation and his allegation that Okeowo was threatened by the APC leaders to change his earlier statement is an afterthought.”
Olatunbosun also frowned at the alleged threats by Peoples Democratic Party leaders against the witness to change his last statement of confession in court or face the consequences, saying issuing threats against a man trying to bear witness to truth and justice was a criminal act that the law enforcement agents must act on.
The APC spokesman called on the security agents to provide security for Okeowo against the threats by PDP leaders, saying adequate security for the witness in court and wherever he lives is the only guarantee of getting to the root of the murder to enable the late union leader, the falsely accused persons and the witness to have justice.
He added that the police must extract from both Owoseni and Olayinka what they knew about the murder and their motive for obstructing the course of justice in the investigation and trial of the murder case.
Olatunbosun said: “We must ensure justice in this matter. We have had enough of impunity and manipulation. This case must end the era of unresolved political murders in Ekiti State, which resurfaced last year with the advent of Fayose’s participation in political contest after the murderous three and half years in the state that he was governor.”