A statement by a spokesman of the former governor of the state, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, on Sunday accused members of the ACN of being behind the attack, which led to Awolumate’s death.
The statement reads in part, “Chief Adeleye Awolumate, the Peoples Democratic Party chairman for Osun Ward in Moba Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was among the victims of the reign of terror unleashed on the state on Thursday, November 15, 2010 by the Action Congress of Nigeria and was buried on Saturday.
“Awolumate died at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti last Sunday as a result of the machete cuts inflicted on him by ACN thugs that invaded Osun and other towns and villages in Ekiti State on Thursday, November 15. The deceased, who was badly injured, was rushed to the FMC, Ido-Ekiti where he died after a spirited battle to save his life by doctors in the hospital.”
The statement said that after the burial, Oni urged PDP members in the state to remain calm. It quoted Oni as having said that the police would arrest the PDP chieftain’s killers.
Oni said, “We were in government here for three and half years, we did not kill anybody. We did not even sponsor an attack on anyone.
“But in just one month of their government, we have witnessed gruesome murders of innocent Ekiti indigenes, whose only offence was that they do not belong to their party. But I want to plead with all of you here not to revenge the murder of Chief Adeleye Awolumate. Please, leave revenge for God.”
The State PDP Chairman, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, promised that the party would take care of the wives and children of left behind by the deceased.
But the Chairman of the ACN in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, in a telephone interview with THE PUNCH said it was not true that members were not responsible for Awolumate’s death.
Awe said he learnt that Awolumate took ill and was rushed to a private hospital. He said the late PDP chieftain abandoned his treatment and joined members of his party in trying to take over the Moba Local Government secretariat after Governor Kayode Fayemi had dissolved councils in the state.
He said, “I can’t speak ill of the dead but this is what I learnt. I learnt that the man was sick and was receiving treatment at a private hospital before the incident.
“I was told that he went to the secretariat with his fragile health and when there was a crisis, he ran away on his bike. I think the sickness relapsed and he went back to hospital and eventually died. This is what I learnt when I heard that the man died.”
The state command’s spokesman, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh, told our correspondent on the telephone that the police were investigating Awolumate’s death. The police spokesman warned members of the PDP against taking the law into their hands over the incident.
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