Posted by By CHRIS ANUCHA (just back from Ado-Ekiti) on
Ekiti State police command says it has concluded plans to arrest and arraign former governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose, immediately he is released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ekiti State police command says it has concluded plans to arrest and arraign former governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose, immediately he is released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He is to be charged for creating tension in the state and disturbing public peace. Already, the police have contacted the EFCC, requesting that the embattled governor be handed over to them as soon as court grants him bail.
It would be recalled that Fayose and his supporters almost turned his return to Ekiti to a carnival of some sort on Tuesday, December 4, 2007, after a year of self-exile.
The state governor, Engr Segun Oni had accused the state police command of throwing its weight behind Fayose by providing security for him and his supporters as long as the procession lasted in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
But police said they did so to forestall breakdown of law and order, insisting that Fayose has case to answer by turning his return to Ekiti to a carnival.
Speaking to Daily Sun recently in his office at the command's headquarters, the police commissioner, Mr. Yomi Onashile said: 'Fayose's lawyer called me on phone to inform me that he was coming. I don't know how he got my number. I said if he is coming, he should make sure he comes quietly and goes to his village quietly and anywhere he wants to go and leaves quietly."
The CP said to his surprise, Fayose organized a procession and a kind of rally against his earlier warning.
'Based on that, I have already charged him to court for disturbing public peace and for not taking permit, though that law has been abolished, he will now be arraigned on two count charges of creating tension and disturbing public peace."
Defending the tight security provided for Fayose despite disobeying his order, Onashile said he had to do that since there was a court order that the former governor should not be arrested, adding that considering the fact that Fayose was not declared wanted, he had the constitutional responsibility to protect his life and to ensure that the procession did not degenerate to breakdown of law and order.
The CP said: 'My job is to protect life and property. That is the cardinal duty of the police. He is a citizen of this country.
'If Fayose was injured, wounded or attacked, that will be my responsibility. So, the policemen were around to make sure there was no breakdown of law and order.
He told Daily Sun that the security provided by the police on that day was not personally for Fayose, adding that 'it was in the interest of everybody, to make sure that there was no breakdown of law and order. That is my job."