Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose
Some
thugs loyal to Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Wednesday
descended on The PUNCH Correspondent in Ekiti State, Kamarudeen
Ogundele, beating him to stupor while on official duty.
The thugs, who continued to lay siege to
the House of Assembly Complex and all roads leading to the state
capital, attacked him around noon on Bank Road, very close to a
road-block mounted by the police near the Assembly complex.
He had gone to gauge the mood in town
when the thugs descended on him for trying to take the picture of women
praying for peace in the state, about 200 metres away from the Assembly
complex.
Many
of the loyalists of the governor and members of the Peoples Democratic
Party lined up all the major streets leading to the complex to prevent
the 19 APC lawmakers from gaining entry to the assembly to actualise
their move to impeach Fayose.
His dress was torn into shreds by the hoodlums who were angry with him for taking picture after seizing his phone.
He said, “I was about leaving the place
when I saw the women praying for peace to reign in the state. I felt it
was a spiritual approach to the trouble in the state, so I decided to
take the picture. The thugs emerged from their hideouts and swooped on
me.
“I kept shouting ‘I’m a journalist’ but
they did not show me mercy as they pounced on me. They were like 50
persons kicking me all at the same time. They dragged me out of the car
and continued hitting me. At a time, one of them went to carry a big
plank of wood in an attempt to hit my head.
“Two policemen raced to the scene to
intervene but they were overwhelmed by the mob. One of the policemen
started shouting, ‘run, run, run, don’t let them kill you!’ I thought
the end had come because they continued beating me. Luckily for me, a
few among them felt they had beaten me enough and started fighting their
colleagues to let me go. I capitalised on their disagreement and with
the help of the police, I quickly escaped.”
The governor later called one of the
leaders of the Nigerian Union of Journalist in the state to apologise
for his supporters’ action. He also expressed regret over the mob
action.
While condemning the incident, Fayose said the action of the overzealous men should not be taken for action of his government.
He assured journalists that they would be
guaranteed freedom to discharge their duties without fear or favour in
the state, and without intimidation from any quarter.
Meanwhile, riot policemen took over the
Efon Alaaye, the border town of Ekiti State with Osun State, where some
supporters of the PDP had prevented free vehicular movement on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state Chairman of the PDP,
Chief Idowu Faleye, has said the insistence of the 19 APC lawmakers to
impeach Fayose would definitely affect their political future in the
state.
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