The government of Ekiti State has sent a delegation to express condolences to the relatives of students murdered by police bullets.
The delegation traveled to Usi Ekiti and Ido Ekiti where Dada Kehinde and Okonufua Joseph’s families are staying, respectively.
The delegation included the Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji; the Chief of Staff to the governor, Biodun Omoleye; Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Moji Fafure; Commissioner for Environment, Gbenga Ageyo; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Women Affair, Eunice Oladimeji; and the lawmaker representing Ido/Osi 1 at the State Assembly, Abiodun Fawekun.
This visit comes two days after the police denied firing shots at protesting students and declared the deaths to be baseless.
Students of FUOYE took to the streets to protest the lack of electricity in the Oye community on Tuesday. The protest led to the blockade of the federal road that passes through Oye to Lokoja and Abuja. Bisi Fayemi, the wife of the state governor who was on a tour, paid a visit to the community.
The protest soon turned violent after the president of the student union, Awodola Oluwaseun, had been beaten by a police officer. The students were reacting violently. Security officers attached to Mrs. Fayemi’s convoy then fired gunshots that killed Dada Kehinde and Okonofua Joseph and wounded others.
While the police have denied allegations to have shot the students or even fired shots, the governor’s wife has acknowledged the students ‘ deaths.
She said she had never ordered the shootings, though.