Justice demand over killing

Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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A serving  lawmaker and former Deputy Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Olusegun Adewumi, has called on the Ekiti State government to bring to book perpetrators of a political  violence  that claimed the life of his 76-year-old mother, Mrs Julianah Adewumi, and 43 years old younger brother Ayo Jeje.

Adewumi, while narrating his ordeal to The Hope Metro said though he escaped death by the whiskers during the attack launched on his family house at Erinjiyan Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government area of Ekiti state, his mother and brother were not lucky to survive the rain of bullets they received during the attack,

He explained that the attack also led to wanton destruction of property and other personal belongings of his family.

According to him, “My brother, Ayo Jeje,  died instantly following gunshot injuries sustained during the attack, but my mother was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre (now Federal Teaching Hospital), Ido Ekiti, where 35 pellets were extracted from her body.

“One pellet from her breast, while three were removed from her spinal cord. At the long run, I think  by the time they removed all the pellets, it was apparent she would be permanently deformed. She was about 76 years as at that time So, unfortunately we lost her.

He said his 82-year-old father, Hon Gabriel Ojo Adewumi, also died as a result of the shock about two months after the  death of his dear wife.

Adewumi noted that when the case was reported to the police, they conducted their investigations and arrested some hoodlums in connection with the crime, afterwhich they were charged to court, but some of them ran away.

“They were tried for two years or thereabouts. But eventually, the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Dr Ayodele Fayose, allegedly used it to settle political issues,”he said.

The lawmaker, who revealed that the family had not remained the same following the traumatizing experience, however,  recalled the events that led to the mindless attack which, he described as the height of intolerance and unnecessary venture.

He explained that the unfortunate incident,  which happened at the midnight of March 30 and 31, 2013, the eve of his planned defection alongside his teeming supporters and youths of the community from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to PDP was with a view to prevent him from pitching tent with the then opposition party.

His words,  “The defection was scheduled for March 31, which was a day before Easter celebration. But at about 12 midnight, my family house at Erijinyan Ekiti was attacked by some politicians and political thugs from the community.

“It was a harrowing experience. My mother was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit for three good months, where nobody could tell what would happen to her in another 10 minutes. We were alternating staying with her.

“People from far and near visited the scene. It was like a war zone; only that it did not occur to them to the thugs to set the whole building on fire. The house is still there till today with the wall where bullets penetrated. We deliberately left it that way. But we replaced only the windows that were shattered,” he stated.

According to him, Ayo Jeje, a young man of about 43 years,, a graduate who had traversed every sector of education, who had, in his quest for further studies, just secured admission to study Law, was felled by the bullets near the house in the process.

He said: “Ayo Jeje was killed simply because he knew everybody that participated in the attack. They killed him to cover their tracks. In the course of conducting postmortem for the late Jeje, about 25 pellets were extracted from his body.