Gunmen Kill Ex- Ekiti Governor’s Aide Ojo, 2 Others
It was gathered that Ojo was killed at about 10 pm at a viewing centre at Adebayo Area, along Iworoko road in the town.
Unconfirmed reports also had it that, two other men whose identities could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report were also killed alongside Ojo who is presently a Commissioner on the Board of Federal Character Commission (FCC).
The All Progressives Congress(APC) chieftain, according to a source, was said to be in the company of some of his political associates when the gun- wielding assailants , numbering six were to have stormed the view centre and rained bullets on the victims
He was reportedly shot in the head and stomach and his body has been deposited at the morgue of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti .
The APC family in the state, particularly camp of Chief Oni have been thrown into mourning and confusion, as many were already reading political meaning to the gruesome murder of a staunch loyalist of the former Governor.
According to a source, Ojo was said to be nursing the ambition of contesting the House of Representatives in Ekiti North Federal Constituency 2, comprising Ido/Osi, Ilejemeje and Moba Local Government Areas of the state in the 2019 general election.
The source said: “This killing had fuelled the insinuation that Ojo’s death must have been politically motivated. He had aspiration and he had made contacts to his group and they were already doing underground works.
“Again, several efforts had been made to ensure that he gets presidential nod for second term on the board of FCC, so this is another angle to this killing”, he stated.
But a source said Ojo must have been a victim of circumstance surrounding the rampage by cultists in Adebayo area in recent time.
This source said: “Several people have been killed in Adebayo area of recent. I learnt the killers were cultists and they had a target at the viewing centre which might not likely to be him.
“Those who were killed, including governor Oni’s Personal Assistant must have been killed in error, because they are not likely to be the target”, this source said.
The Police Public Relation Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr Caleb Ikechukwu could not be reached to confirm the killing as several calls to his phone by our correspondent were not picked.
Meanwhile, the Media Office of Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has commiserated with the family of the member of the APC over Ojo’s killing.
Fayemi in a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, Wole Olujobi expressed shock and sadness over the late Ojo’s murder, saying that the killing of the late politician was a sad commentary that shattered the relative peace the state had enjoyed after the July 14 governorship poll.
While commiserating with the family of the late politician, Fayemi charged security agencies to live up to their responsibility to get to the root of the killing and bring perpetrators to justice.
“This is a sad development that should not be allowed to go away without getting to the root of this killing, but then the public must give security agencies chance to do their job to get to the root of this sad development and security agencies are enjoined to swing into action to apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous crime to check the activities of criminals in Ekiti State.
In a separate statement by the APC in the state, its Publicity Secretary, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, rued the untimely death of its chieftain and called on the security operatives to fish out the perpetrators without delay.
“Those who knew Bunmi (Ojo) cannot but liked him, he was an easy-going and upright politician who cultivated friendship in both high and low places, which endeared him to many people”, said the APC Publicity Secretary, adding that his cold death could not be far from political machinations and the assailants tools of a devilish politician in the state.
“We will not rest until the assailants are fished out. This is a test of efficiency for the police and other security operatives,” Olatunbosun moaned.
Meanwhile, Ekiti State Government has condemned the murder of Mr. Bunmi Ojo, a former Personal Assistant to ex-Deputy National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Oni, charging police and other security agencies to fish out his killers and bring them to justice.
In a statement issued on Saturday, by the Special Assistant to the State Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the government condoled with the families, friends and political associates of the deceased, praying that God in His infinite mercies will console and uphold his wife and children.
“The manner in which Bunmi Ojo, a commissioner in the Federal Character Commission and strong ally of Chief Segun Oni was killed is a demonstration of the extent some devilish people can go to settle scores with their fellow men and the security agencies must not add this gruesome murder to the diary of unresolved murders in Nigeria.
‘’On the part of the State Government, all necessary assistance will be provided for the security agencies to aide thorough investigation of the murder and arrest of the perpetrators,” the government said.
