On the 17th day of February 2009 the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Judicial Division ordered re-run gubernatorial election in some wards and Local Governments of Ekiti State. Consequently, the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the re-run election on the 25th of April 2009. The build up to the election was tense as citizens of Ekiti state expressed their determination to protect their mandate this time. The response of the PDP leadership expressed through Speaker Dimeji Bankole was to call for the army to control the elections, presumably in their favour. There were allegations of the recruitment, training and deployment of armed thugs, fake soldiers and police to assist in the intimidation of voters and the rigging of the elections.

On the basis of the uncertain atmosphere for the elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tried to ensure neutrality on the part of its staff and election managers by not using its Ekiti Staff in the conduct of the re-run election. The use of INEC personnel from outside the State helped in dispelling suspicion of bias on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

To monitor the integrity of the elections, numerous civil society organisations resolved to observe the elections with about 800 monitors. In the afternoon of 25th April, political thugs from the PDP attacked civil society observers monitoring the gubernatorial election re-run. They were attacked at Ifaki ward of Ido-Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State, the home town of Olusegun Oni, former PDP Governor of the State. They were enroute to the capital, Ado Ekiti. They are:
 
1)    Dr. Abubakar Momoh, Associate Professor of Political Science, Lagos State University and Centre for Democracy and Development;
2)    Dr. Azeez Olaniyan, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti;
3)    Wahab Oyedokun, a lawyer on the staff of the National Human Rights Commission;
4)    Bimbo Olaniyan, Programme Officer with Action Aid; and
5)    Babatunde Awodehinde from the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR);
6)    Olusoga Olusegun from the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR);
7)    Foudad Oki from the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).
 

Dr Abubakar Momoh

The assault took place at a police check point where four armed policemen watched in amusement while the political thugs attacked the observers with machetes, broken bottles, sticks and clubs. Dr Abubakar Momoh was beaten to a pulp and received numerous cuts from broken bottles. The Police watched as they put used tyre around Wahab Oyedokun’s neck and were looking for fuel to burn him alive.
 
Luckily for the group of seven, one CSP Samuel-Etaifo Erale of Mopol arrived and stopped the brutalisation of the observers. The police however then arrested the victims, rather than the thugs who were brutalizing them. They were subsequently transferred to the police headquarters in Ado Ekiti.

All efforts to secure bail for them on Saturday night by fellow observers from the Catholic Secretariat, the National Human Rights Commission and even Dr Otive Igbuzor from the Police Service Commission were refused. After bleeding profusely for seven hours in police cells, the brutalized victims were given a short bail to allow them access the Catholic hospital for treatment but were returned to police detention on the orders of Deputy Inspector-General of Police Hamza Ahmadu who headed the Ekiti Operations.

The seven observers were kept in detention from the afternoon of 25th until 9 p.m. on Monday 27th April when they were granted bail in Abuja.

1)    Why were political armed thugs allowed to harass voters and election observers in Ekiti state in spite of massive police presence?
2)    Why did four armed policemen watch in amusement when seven election observers were brutalized and almost killed?
3)    Why were victims of political violence incarcerated by the police for two days, apparently on the orders of Segun Oni, the former Governor of Ekiti State?
4)    Why was an official Government monitor from the National Human Rights Commission detained for doing the work competent authorities had asked him to do?
 
Civil society and indeed Nigerian citizens would not allow the continued confiscation of the franchise of Nigerian citizens. We will take necessary measures to obtain legal redress for the brutalization of our members.



Dr Jibrin Ibrahim                Abuja, 28th April 2009
Director
Centre for Democracy and Development