The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has berated Governor Ayodele Fayose over the alleged clampdown on the state leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students for speaking on behalf of the students at the presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress at the weekend.
On Saturday at the General Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign rally in Ado-Ekiti, students stormed the venue and insisted that their leader, Tosin Ogunkuade, be allowed to talk on their behalf.
A statement by APC state Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said Ogunkuade’s offence was that the students’ leader highlighted the challenges facing Nigerian students, saying the present efforts by the government were not capable of redressing the hardships faced by the students in accessing quality education.
“He said to the applause of hundreds of students in attendance that Buhari presented a better hope for students in their educational pursuits,” Olatubosun explained.
According to him, just 24 hours after Ogunkuade spoke, thugs trailed him to Ikogosi-Ekiti where he and other students were attacked with deep machete cuts.
Olatunbosun explained further: “After these students were attacked at Ikogosi, they ran to Efon-Alaye Police Station to report the matter.
“To our surprise, the police detained them before they were transferred to Aramoko-Ekiti Police Station.
“To our shock again, just this morning, one of their colleagues, Damilare Bewaji, who went to visit them at the Aramoko Police Station, was also arrested and detained by the police on the order of the governor.”
Olatunbosun added that the arrest was one in the series of other attacks on the APC sympathizers and supporters after the weekend campaign.
His words: “Just this morning, the home of former Commissioner for Finance under Governor Kayode Fayemi, Dapo Kolawole, escaped being razed on the order of the governor. His offence was that he pasted APC flags and posters of the party’s candidates on his building and Fayose does not want to see these posters on his way to Ijurin where he is billed to install the Oba of the town. The thugs shot at Mr. Kolawole’s compound as well as that of his father, Pa Kolawole.
“It is curious that the students, who were the complainants, are now being turned into the accused, as the police arebeing suborned to slam criminal charges against the innocent students.”
Olatubosun added that the same spectre of violence was reported in Efon-Alaye, where APC leader, Chief Joseph Alake, had his house vandalized by thugs allegedly loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Divisional Police Officer in the area was reported to have sustained injury while trying to rescue Alake.
The APC spokesman urged the police to stop being partisan in the handling of political crisis in the state, while he reminded Fayose that he did not have the monopoly of violence.