The shooting at Fayemi’s rally

The shooting incident at the rally to flag off the governorship campaign of the immediate past minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in Ekiti, last Friday, signposts the danger lurking on the road to the July 14 election in that state and even beyond as the 2019 general polls beckon.
The ugly incident occurred at the secretariat of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Party stalwarts and supporters had converged on the secretariat in readiness for the takeoff of the campaign when a man dressed in police uniform opened fi re on the crowd at close range.
According to confl icting media accounts, the governorship aspirant, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who is seeking a return to the Government House, having ruled the state between 2011 and 2015 before losing to the incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose, was believed to be the target of the gunman.
But the bullets rang out in the direction of an ex-member of the House of Representatives and former APC guber aspirant in the state, Mr.
Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, popularly known as MOB.
About five other persons at the venue identified as Olabode Joshua, Olanrewaju Gbenga, Adebayo Ogunjemilehin, Ogunmodede Oluwole and Alex Adeleye, were also hit by the assailant.
The victims were rushed to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) for medical attention and are believed to be responding to treatment.
MOB was shot in the tummy at close range.
As at yesterday, he was reported to be in a stable condition after undergoing multiple surgeries to extract the bullets from his body.
Expectedly, accusations and counter-accusations between the APC and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been flying back and forth over the episode.
Police authorities in the state explained that the assailant, a policeman, was on illegal mission to the state.
According to the police spokesperson in Ekiti, Caleb Ikechukwu, the policeman is attached to the 20 Police Mobile Force (PMF), Ikeja, Lagos, and was on posting on bank guard duties from where he was illegally contracted by a politician for the Ekiti assignment.
But the APC debunked the claim, saying the shooter was a fake policeman hired to assassinate its flag bearer.
The party also accused the police command in the state of complicity by granting a permit to the state Governor, Ayodele Fayose, to hold a rally with okada riders in the state capital on the same day.
The tragedy on Friday came on the heels of vandalisation of the campaign billboards and posters of the APC candidate.
This culture of intolerance of opposition in our electoral process has been entrenched in our political system since the return to democratic rule.
While the rest of the world has moved on with a more civilised way of campaigning for votes, our politicians are still trapped in the crude methods of seeking or retaining power through a do-or-die means that characterised the First Republic politics, leading to its eventual collapse in 1966.
With the assurance of stability in the democratic system between 1999 and 2007, subsequent elections have been blighted by the spectre of assassinations.
We recall the following tragedies that occurred in some parts of the country in the build-ups to the 2011 general elections: two political aspirants were felled in Edo and Ekiti states.
Mr. Oghogho Omoregbe was murdered in Benin City a few hours after he declared his intention to vie for a seat in the House of Representatives, representing Orhionmwon/ Uhumnmode federal constituency on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
The other victim, Mr. Kunle Ayaga, also of the ACN, was deliberately gunned down by an unidentified policeman on a motorbike during the annual Ogun festival in Ilawe Ekiti.
The two tragedies occurred in August, 2010.
Earlier in 2002, John Agbatutu, a Jos-based mining mogul from Delta state, had declared his intention to contest a seat in the Senate only to be killed in an organised road accident at a police checkpoint along the Akwanga-Jos road.
Till date, all the perpetrators of these criminal acts have not been found.
It is very unfortunate that the police are implicated in the latest Ekiti tragedy.
The police hierarchy should conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Incidents such as this are not only capable of frightening off decent materials from the political space, leaving the scene to only charlatans and crooks but also scaring away eligible voters on election days.
The forthcoming polls in Ekiti state have the prospect of turning violent given the high stake and the dramatis personae from the ruling and opposition parties.
The police have a herculean task on its plate and no efforts should be spared to ensure the safety of lives and properties of the people of the state before, during and after the exercise.