Opeyemi Bamidele, One Other Shot by Police at Fayemi’s Campaign Rally

By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A policeman Friday shot a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Hon  Opeyemi Bamidele, and  a yet to be identified person, as the candidate of the party, Dr. Kayode Fayemi,  began his campaign for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.

The rally which attracted a large crowd of party supporters and admirers across the state started on a good note from Akure, capital of Ondo State, before it horrible twist.

The governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu,  Fayemi and former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who were in the the campaign train, had gone up to greet party leaders at the APC secretariat at Ajilosun area of  Ado Ekiti and were descending the stairs when a policeman suddenly  released several bullets to scare the crowd.

The policeman was trying to protect the dignitaries from being mobbed by those who were trying to extort  money from them when he fired the bullet that hit Bamidele on the hand and the other person in the chest.

Though, it was gathered that political touts had  struggled with the policeman before he lost control and shot sporadically in the wrong direction.

Bamidele was hurriedly hauled into the car conveying  Ondo State governor and taken to the hospital while the other victim fell on the ground, raising speculations about his condition.

Angry party men  immediately disarmed the policeman  and almost lynched him before he was rescued and taken to safety.

This incident caused serious melee at  Mobil area as people had to scamper for safety in different  directions to prevent being hit by bullets.

Most of the party men raised unsubstantiated allegations that Governor Ayodele Fayose was behind the attack to destabilise APC.

Fayemi  and his entourage however proceeded with the campaign and were received in Ikere Ekiti by a large crowd of party supporters, which led to serious traffic snarl along Ado–Akure road.

Earlier,  Akeredolu and Fayemi while addressing party members, said the former minister 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 huge crowd of supporters that welcomed the campaign train, 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”, he prayed.

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”.

Apparently referring to the just defected former Minister  Adeyeye, Fayemi said: “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 which moved backward to garner more strength. We are here to rescue Ekiti and it is a task we must achieve”.

In his remarks, Adeyeye, who returned to the party on Tuesday after twelve years in the PDP, said: “I have returned home and my mission is to ensure that we kill Fayose politically by  burying him.

“We shall mobilise 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 running mate, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, was also in the entourage, among other party leaders.