Tragedy struck in Ado-Ekiti on Friday as a police officer shot a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele and an unnamed person at the rally organised by the governorship candidate of the party, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
The rally had started from Akure, the Ondo state capital on a good note by the large crowd of party supporters and admirers that graced the occasion before it turned into a sad one when the policeman suddenly released several bullets to scare the people.
Dr. Fayemi, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state and a former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who were in the long convoy of vehicles, were descending the stair case of the party’s secretariat at Ajilosun area of Ado-Ekiti after greeting party leaders when the incident happened.
Bamidele was hurriedly rushed into the car conveying Ondo State governor and taken to the hospital while the other victim fell on the ground and people said that he might have died instantly.
The police officer was immediately disarmed by party faithfuls who descended on him and smashed his head with sticks and other dangerous weapons before being rescued and taken to a safe custody.
This incident caused serious confusion in the vicinity as people scampered for safety in different directions to prevent being hit by bullets.
However, Fayemi and his entourage were received in Ikere-Ekiti by long convoy of vehicles and large crowd of party supporters, which caused serious traffic snarl along Ado–Akure road.
Before the crisis, Akeredolu and Fayemi while addressing party members, said he had come home to rescue Ekiti from the pangs of poverty and wanton neglect caused by the PDP administration.
Akeredolu applauded the party members for putting behind them the post-primary crisis, saying with the crowd he saw today, Ekiti remains the stronghold of the APC.
“Fayemi has returned with full force to reclaim the land. He needs your support and this task shall be achieved in the mighty name of God”, Akeredolu said.
In his response, Fayemi said: “We are here to work for Ekiti and our party leaders and this we are going to do together because it is a collective responsibility.
“We are going to work with everybody, including those who just decamped to our party, because we are one big family in APC.
“We shall win by the grace of God. Our case was like the case of a ram who moved backward to garner more strength. We are here to rescue Ekiti and it is a task we must achieve”.
In his contributions, Adeyeye, who returned to the party last Tuesday after twelve years in the PDP, said: “I have returned home and my mission is to ensure that we killed Fayose politically by burying him.
“We shall mobilize well to achieve this task and by the grace of God, this is a must-win and must accomplished task for all of us”, he added.
Fayemi’s deputy governorship candidate, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi was also in the entourage, among other party leaders.
