The government of Ekiti State on Wednesday spoke on the Tuesday attack on the convoy of the First Lady of the state, Mr. Bisi Fayemi, by students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, FUOYE.
It confirmed that the convoy of the First Lady was attacked during a protest by students of FUOYE.
It said whilst acknowledging that the protest might have started as a peaceful one, there was an escalation to violence, possibly due to infiltration by hoodlums.
It explained that Mrs. Fayemi was in Oye Local Government in continuation of her community engagement and advocacy tour of the state when the attack occurred.
According to the statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Aare Muyiwa Olumilua, she commenced the Tuesday’s tour from Moba Local Government and had visited Ilejemeje Local Government before arriving in Oye-Ekiti for the last leg of the tour.
The students were said to have earlier in the day taken over major streets in the town, protesting against the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), over power outage in the area.
The government however said it was not petitioned nor alerted of the plight prior to the protest.
“The convoy of the Wife of the Governor was attacked with several vehicles vandalised, leaving many people, including journalists, with varying degrees of injuries.
“Those injured during the attack have been given first aid treatment, while some are still receiving treatment in the hospital,” the statement reads in part.
The government said while not denying the students the right to express their grievances on any issue, it was expected that such could be done without resulting to violence.
Ekiti State government said it had been informed that there might have been casualties recorded during the incident, it however awaited more details on the development from the school authorities.
“Nothing is worth the loss of any life,” the government stated.
It added that as a responsible government, it had been engaging the electricity company, BEDC, on how to improve the power situation in parts of the state, long before this unfortunate incident.
It said it would continue to engage the electricity company on the improvement of their service delivery to Ekiti State.
It advised the general public to go about their normal activities, assuring that the situation had been put under control.
