Friday, March 29, 2024

Daramola, Omojola’s murder: Fayose, cronies move to pervert justice

  • Re-assign case to new judge
  • Principal witness flees, rejects N10m bribe
  • Fayose is innocent – Ekiti govt

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State may have opened old wounds in the way his administration is handling two high-profile murder cases involving his former aides and close associates, investigations by The Point have revealed.

The crimes were committed when Fayose was governor between 2003 and 2006, a regime that ended in crisis, following his impeachment by the state’s House of Assembly.

While his impeachment hit a climax, Fayose fled the state and went into hiding, reportedly to escape being arrested by the federal administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which had penciled him down for trial. However, some of Fayose’s former aides and friends are now standing trial for the murder.

The governor is now in the eye of the storm for allegedly attempting to reassign the murder cases in a bid to free the suspects, believed to be his cronies.

On August 14, 2006, an Ekiti-born World Bank Consultant, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola, was holed up in his IjanEkiti countryhome and murdered in cold blood.

Daramola, according to reports, had his jaw first broken with a sledgehammer before he was shot to death.

His murder came amid widespread speculations that he was being considered by Obasanjo as a credible replacement, once Fayose was sacked as governor.

Another Ekiti indigene, Tunde Omojola, said to be a youth leader, was also allegedly beaten to death by riot policemen and political thugs in the campaign train of Fayose during a councillorship election in Ifaki, in 2005.

Omojola’s offence, it was alleged, was that he spoke to Fayose on the need to take the path of decency and democracy in the conduct of the election, arguing that the governor’s agents were criminally manipulating the poll through violence.

Omojola had lived for many years in Holland and probably felt it was safe to express his views, more so in his home country.

Some of the people now standing trial over these murder cases are Dayo Okondo, Olatunji Adegoke, T.A Aina and Samuel K. Dada.

Olatunji was Principal Personal Assistant to Fayose in his first tenure and was reported as “the backbone” of the administration. Okondo, a retired soldier, was Chairman, state Local Government Service Commission and was often called ‘Commander’, as he belonged to Fayose’s kitchen cabinet.

But at the period, human rights lawyer and Ekiti indigene, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, described those in Fayose’s kitchen cabinet as ‘Killer Squad’, considering a gale of politically-motivated crimes carried out during the period.

The Chairman, Ado-Ekiti Local Government, Mr. Taye Fasubaa, was also reported to have escaped death by a whisker, when suspected hired killers barged into his house at night. Fasubaa reportedly killed one of his attackers in self defence.

The accused persons -Olatunji, Okondo and co.- have been in and out of prisons while standing trial over the murder allegations. The trial has lasted 11 years and has been giving concerns to family members of the victims, who are hankering for justice.

Despite the fact that many fingers are being pointed at Fayose over the assassination of Daramola and Omojola, especially by family members and political opponents, the governor was never brought to court, neither was he prosecuted over these cases.

The Police had exonerated him in a special report done in Abuja, when he wanted to contest for Senate in 2011.

But impeccable sources close to the cases said the governor was worried that his loyalists were still not left off the hook and that this might lead to his re-arrest and prosecution after the expiration of his term. Such fear appears poignant more so that Fayose is an unrepentant critic of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration

FAYOSE’S GOVT RE-ASSIGNS MURDER CASE

Meanwhile, the two murder cases, which were being handled by Justice Ayodeji Daramola, the current Chief Judge of Ekiti State, have now been re-assigned to another judge, Justice Adewale Fowe, by the state’s Ministry of Justice.

According to findings, the case, which had dragged on without hitting at any critical stage in the last 10 years, is now reportedly being fast-tracked in what is believed to be a ploy to make some suspects go scot-free. Fayose, as governor, enjoys constitutional immunity against both civil and criminal prosecutions.

Two attempts, it was gathered, had been made in the last six months to sit in secret over the murder trial. These, some family members of Daramola and Omojola, who spoke with The Point in confidence, said were aimed at dismissing the cases for want of diligent prosecution.

In the first secret trial, the accused persons were reported to have applied for a nolle prosequi, to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution. But conscious that such a reprieve would not stop further examination of the case, an arrangement was allegedly made for a relisting of the case for a de novo, that is, fresh trial.

“It was in the attempt for the second secret trial that a whistle-blower leaked the plot to a Non-Governmental Organisation, which exposed the details of how a pliable judge was hired to perfect the script,” a source within the state’s judiciary, who craved anonymity, revealed.

PRESSURE ON LATE DARAMOLA’S EX-AIDE

Serious pressure is now reportedly being mounted on Mr. Demola Adeusi, a.k.a Oosha, who was Personal Assistant to the late Daramola. Oosha is a principal witness in the ongoing murder case against his slain boss.

On March 27, 2017, some alleged government agents, led by one of the leading accused persons in the case, reportedly visited the Ijan-Ekiti residence of Oosha, pleading with him to appear in court the following day, to renounce the statement he wrote against them in 2006 as regards the murder of his boss.

But Oosha, who was said to have been promised a cash reward of N10 million, reportedly resisted the temptation, saying he would not betray his former boss simply because he was no more alive.

Already, Oosha, reliable sources said, has fled the state.

It was also gathered that Fayose is particularly desperate to ensure that his aide, Olatunji, currently standing trial over the two cases, is set free.

TRAJECTORY OF CONTROVERSIAL CASE

The administration of former Governor Kayode Fayemi had re-opened the two cases after their respective families petitioned the government, asking for justice. The case that was being handled by Rotimi Jacobs on behalf of the state government, as counsel, contained all the facts of the murders, including those known to the public and fresh ones.

However, the cases were not pursued as planned before the change of government in 2014. It was learnt that Jacobs was approached by the Fayose administration to surrender the documents on the case in his possession, to enable the state government to continue with the case as it was due for relisting.

Jacobs reportedly refused, telling Fayose and his agents that the families of the deceased were also part of the prosecution/complainants and so, he would not surrender the brief until their approval was sought and granted.

Boxed to a corner, the state agents allegedly hired an Ekiti-born senior advocate, resident in Lagos, to prosecute the case secretly.

For possible fear of the consequence of such an action, the senior lawyer allegedly directed junior officers in his chambers to append their names. The subsequent affidavit by Kunle Adetowubo &Co, was dated June 28, 2016 in charge number HAD/2c/ 2007 and motion on notice numbered HAD/71cm/2016, between the state government and complainants, brought under Motion on Notice, pursuant to Section 56 of the Ekiti State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2014, and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.

Adetowubo listed the parties to the suit to include the state government, as plaintiff, and Dayo Okondo, Olatunji Adegoke, T.A Aina and Samuel K. Dada, as defendants. The suspects were known supporters of Fayose during his first term. A report of the State Security Service (as it then was) also listed them as members of Fayose’s killer Squad, with Okondo as Commander.

The re-listed case filed for fresh hearing, sought the following reliefs: That the case that was struck out on June 21, 2016 be relisted for fresh hearing; that upon reading the record of the proceedings of June 21, 2016, it was discovered that the honourable court only struck out the action for want of diligent prosecution; that the prosecution witnesses are ready to state their case without delay of any kind; that the prosecution undertakes to prosecute and conduct trial from day to day as may be agreed and convenient to the honourable court until the matter is fully disposed; and that the mistake leading to the absence of prosecution witnesses and their counsel is absolutely that of the prosecution counsel.

These, sources said, were being done without putting all the complainants, including the families of the deceased, on notice.

When the case finally came up on march 28, 2017, the lawyers were surprised to see journalists in attendance, and at the end of the day, the court resolved that it could not continue with the case because of the absence of a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Thaddeus Aina, who is also an accused person in the murder of Holland-based Omojola. While Aina, the 2nd defendant, was absent, having been reportedly flown abroad for medical treatment, the first respondent, Olatunji, was present in court.

In the same vein, the case on the murder of the former World Bank Consultant, Daramola, which had been consolidated with Omojola’s case, was adjourned on the request of the counsel to both parties.

When the case was brought before Justice Fowe, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Adekunle Adetowubo, revealed that Aina, who is representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency II, had been flown abroad for medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

Adetowubo and counsel to the defendants, Mr. Adedayo Adewumi, sought a brief adjournment and also prayed the court to issue a witness summon, so that all the witnesses could be brought to court on the next adjournment date.

WE’RE NOT AWARE OF RELISTING – APC

Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Taiwo Olatunbosun, told The Point that his party was not aware of the re-listing of Daramola and Omojola’s murder case. He also denied that the party, which was at the vanguard of diligent prosecution for the cases, had now become complacent. He said, “We are not aware that the judge has been changed. I will confirm from our legal adviser and get back to you as soon as possible.” His response was not obtained till press time.

FAYOSE CAN’T SUPPORT CRIMINALITY – PDP

Reacting, however, the Ekiti State chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has come in defence of Fayose, saying apart from being someone who would never condone criminality, he had never been indicted over the two murder cases.

The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Jackson Adebayo, in a chat with The Point, said the allegation was a mere propaganda orchestrated by the APC.

He said, “In the first instance, the circumstances surrounding the killing of Ayo Daramola have never been linked with the Governor of Ekiti State or any member of the Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party.

“It was a propaganda of the then Alliance of Democracy, now All Progressives Congress, to carry different kinds of rumour and link them to Governor Ayo Fayose. And I want to tell you that, as it is now, there is no case that anybody could even tamper with concerning the Ayo Daramola’s case.”

The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, denied allegations that the governor was involved in the relisting.

He said, “The cases are routinely assigned by the Chief Judge and not the governor. It must have been reassigned by the court registrar on the instruction of the chief judge. We have the best judiciary in Nigeria that is independent of the control of the two other arms of government.”

 

The Publicity Secretary of PDP in the state, Mr. Jackson Adebayo, said the allegation was a mere propaganda orchestrated by the APC

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