Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

Ikere-Ekiti, the second largest town in Ekiti State, was on fire for several hours yesterday during which one person was shot dead in a protest by residents against the decision of the state government to relocate the College of Education from the community to Ifaki, the ancestral home of the state governor, Engr Segun Oni.

What began as a peaceful protest later snowballed into a bloody encounter when a mobile policeman allegedly fired a shot which hit an innocent passer-by, Ola Alonge, who is a son to one of the high chiefs of the town, Chief Alonge Ologotun.

Condemning the incident, Oni said it was "the last card played by the Action Congress in the state by plunging that town into unwarranted confusion and chaos".

He said in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Moses Jolayemi that the culprits will be made to face the wrath of the law "without any shadow of doubt".

The protesters who defied the government order to observe the environmental sanitation for the month of January, trooped out in their thousands and massed at the Odo-Oja Roundabout adjacent the Town Hall to express their grievance over the relocation.

The corpse was later taken to the palace of the Ogoga of Ikere-Ekiti, Oba Samuel Adegoke Adegboye Akayejo II who had relocated from the palace when the news of the protest spread.

The State Police Command confirmed the death of Alonge and the arrest of at least twenty persons in connection with the riot.

All the chiefs of the town had also fled to unknown destinations with the palace besieged by the angry mob who confronted the riot policemen as the remains of the victim which was wrapped in blue loin cloth lay on a bench by the palace gate.

The Oba’s Market which is adjacent the palace was sacked as there was no buying and selling. Market men and women who would have displayed their wares at the market also joined the protesters to show their grievances over the relocation of the college.

As at press time the community was a ghost town as the main road


leading to Akure, the Ondo State capital, was bare of traffic. The irate youths of the town made bonfires on key junctions and barricaded the road with rickety vehicles, drums, iron rods, wooden objects and other missiles.

Vehicles coming from Ado-Ekiti, the state capital heading for Akure, Ise-Ekiti, Emure-Ekiti, Igbara-Odo and other towns were turned back by the rioters while some shops and business centres belonging to some indigenes of the town believed to support the state government were vandalized.

The town was still under the hail of teargas at the time of filing this report with more riot policemen drafted to the town to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order. Intermittent shots of guns and teargas were heard with residents scampering for safety.

Oni had during his State of the State address in which he gave account of his stewardship two weeks ago confirmed the that college had moved to Ifaki with the take-off of The University of Education, Ikere-Ekiti (TUNEDIK).

The placard-carrying protesters demanded that the college, which had been in the town since 1978 be restored by the state government claiming that the relocation of the college would deprive the town and its inhabitants of income and development.

The Nation gathered that letters had been circulated on Friday to tenants and students living in the houses of the prominent indigenes of the town believed to have supported the relocation of the college threatening to burn down the houses during the protest and asking the occupants of such buildings to "leave in their own interest".

According to a leaflet given to reporters by the organizers of the protest, the Concerned Citizens of Ikere-Ekiti, they pointed out that they are resisting the relocation of the college because "it has made the town more popular and has brought development to the community". They also cite the inconvenience on students and the community that the sudden relocation may bring in its wake.

The group argued in the leaflet that the college has 14,000 students including preliminary students, 1,500 staff members, 42 departments and 23 courses which are accredited by the relevant government agencies unlike TUNEDIK which has capacity for 500 students and only boasts of 6 courses and 200 staff.

The protesters who described the college as the "pride of Ikere" were of the view that the relocation of the college would depopulate the town with the college having more population than the education university warning that "there will be no peace in the community unless the college is returned to the original location. "

"The College of Education, Ikere is the pride of the Ikere community; it has promoted the community far and wide because since its establishment in 1978, it has brought changes to the lives of citizens both at home and in the Diaspora.

"The community has experienced developmental changes in every ramification of social life in the community since the establishment of the school.

"The relocation will make the Ikere community go back to their past era. The youths in the community will leave their community to search for greener pastures as the relocation will reduce the revenue accruing to our local government council due to low population.

"The school which has 46 fully-accredited departments and another affiliated faculty will promote the community both at home and abroad because the school had been in existence for over thirty years ago and it will continue to grow and there is going to be stability in their programmes and purpose", the leaflet read in part.

One of the protesters, Sola Ojo, told The Nation that the protest was peaceful despite the presence of a handful of policemen whom he claimed sympathized with their cause but turned violent when a mobile policeman detachment joined the fray and fired a shot which hit Ola in the chest.

Ola’s killing at about 10.20 am angered the rioters who carried and dumped the corpse at the Ogoga’s palace. They latter laid siege for several hours before they were dislodged by riot policemen reinforced to the community.

The demonstrators shortly after bringing the corpse to the palace forced open the gate which had been hitherto locked. They chanted war songs against some of the leaders of the community whom they accused of a sell-out.

The killing of the victim infuriated the protesters the more as they went around the town attacking vehicles in sight and blocking the highways leading to Akure and Igbara-Odo with iron objects to make the roads impassable.

A team of policemen who arrived from the nearby Ikere Divisional Headquarters were attacked and repelled by the rioters who hurled missiles at the policemen who later came back with full force and dislodged the rioters with several canisters of tear gas.

A policeman who was riding a motorcycle around the palace area had his motorcycle seized which was set ablaze by the angry mob who also vandalized a building housing the law chamber and the cyber café of a member of the TUNEDIK Governing Council and an indigene of the town, Mr Gani Faniyi.

The riot policemen later went from house to house in the palace area to fish out suspected arrowheads of the protest many of whom were dragged out and hurled into waiting police vehicles.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ola, confirmed the death of one person and arrests of twenty others saying more armed policemen were drafted to the palace and the entire town saying "the situation is now under control."

Describing the incident as despicable and condemnable, Oni said; "I was thoroughly embarrassed that some black sheep of Ekiti suddenly elected to throw up an issue that had been resolved and settled several months ago, this time in such violent and destructive manner.

"The protest which was said to have been hinged on the location of The University of Education, Ikere (TUNEDIK) the governor said was uncalled for. Having resolved the issue following due consultations with the leaders and stake holders who all gave their unalloyed support for the siting of the University in their town, I have no doubt that the recent crisis was the handiwork of some failed politicians who did nothing to improve the lives of Ikere people when they had the opportunity to do so. We are not unaware that our achievements in less than two years are a source of embarrassment for them. What they said was impossible to achieve in 22 months they were in office, was achieved by us in less than 12 months. This appears the source of their sorrow but we shall not relent.

"It is obvious that the AC leadership in Ekiti and some political and social outcasts have now formed an alliance to truncate the much treasured peace of the state, but we will not allow them.

"We will not allow these illegitimate characters of sullied background and upbringing take this state back to those dark, horrible days when terror reigned over our land.

"I want to assure everybody in the state that the law enforcement agents are up to the task and will do everything possible to hunt down all the unscrupulous elements who have vowed to unleash terror and hardship on innocent Ekiti people."

According to Oni, the state Police Command has already made some arrests and will not rest on its oars untill they are all tracked down. The day of the reckoning is here.

"There must be peace in Ekiti, whether the war mongers like it or not," Oni declared, adding that as early as possible, a firm position will be taken on the matter.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Dare Bejide also described the incident as uncalled for and unfortunate. Bejide who spoke on the state-owned Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) said the state government had taken a final decision on the college issue noting that the college and the University of Education cannot exist side-by-side.

He maintained that the decision to relocate the college since the university was sited in the town was taken in consultation with the leaders of the community.

http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dynamicpage.asp?id=76162

O Nigeria, where art thou peace?

They are fighting because they are over-educated .

Oni should have taken the university to his town, if truly he has a good plan for the institution.
This read meaning to me.

Transferring the college to my home town isnt such a bad idea, at least this other guys (ikere) have had the college for donkey years. My bros, carry go jo.

Is this a prelude to another assassination?

Muza

bring it on, am in the mood

Xavier = Deepzone = Redhotchick = Earthmama = self acclaimed bigot
if u doubt check their pattern and language

joker

But let me ask u which do prefer me to call u,
I know u too well,now after tryin unsuccessfully to wreck havoc u will change to another name,

Xavier,earthmama,dz,rhc,
why ar u quiet?
Are u creating another new profile?
pls dont finish NL's database with ur countless profiles.

Muza

U re prolly right, the writing style is that of someone u know, but it is definitely not Funmi's. I can be as radical as Funmi, but am definitely not xenophobic.

Transferring the college to my home town isnt such a bad idea, at least this other guys (ikere) have had the college for donkey years. My bros, carry go jo.

Why is transfering college to a particular home town such a big deal?

Talk about the devil

He appears.

Talk of the devil

I'm right once again,Earthmama and Xavier are not online at the same time.
We know u too well,once a bigot always a bigot.

U wish. Am online and ur husband (oko iya), Earthmama, ia also online.

She is offline now,but she will be online when u log out and login with her name.
but i wouldnt waste my time arguing with a bigot,he/she will want to drag me to his/her level.

Are u blind? Pls check well.

pls log out and allow her to login and post,pls

I dont blame u. I blame PTDF for spending our hard earned money on Hausa-to-English translating keyboards. Now see what they ve caused. Muza can now type away in Hausa, while the machine translates in English. Nairaland database is gonna definitely get clogged.

This is rally a serious matter you people are joking with here, i was very much in the action on that very day. Thank God i was due to travel the next day after that terrible incident. Though i originally hail from ondo state, ikere-ekiti(where i was born and breed) is my home in Nigeria cos that's my mother's home town. Governor Oni actually fooled our leaders and deceived them with money.
He brought a university with less than 300 students and made the school fees very high that the private schools are better in terms of fees. My mother is telling me now that the curfew is still captivating them. How bad Nigeria Leaders are