The family of the late Dr Ayo Daramola, a governorship aspirant who was killed in Ijan-Ekiti in 2006, has expressed disappointment over the visit of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ayo Fayose, to the Onijan of Ijan, Oba Samuel Oyewole.
The family, in a statement by Dare Daramola, the late Daramola’s younger brother, said the traditional ruler’s reported exoneration of Fayose of the killing of Daramola was his personal opinion, which “was not and will never be a view shared by the immediate family and all other associates of the deceased”.
The statement reads: “We wish to make our position known to the good people of Ekiti, many Nigerians and beyond that have stood by the family of late Dr. Ayo Daramola since his demise on August 14, 2006.
“We want to say without mincing words that the exoneration of Ayo Fayose over the death of Ayo Daramola that emanated from the palace of Onijan, Oba Samuel Oyewole Fadahunsi was not and will never be a view shared by the immediate family and all other associates of the deceased. We do not have a hand in it. No members of the family or the political group, The Turning Point, were consulted before such barefaced assertion was made. It was a personal opinion which the Kabiyesi is free to express.
“The family wants to place it on record with a very serious emphasis that, at no time, anywhere has the family through any representative exonerated Ayo Fayose and his evil disciples from the dastardly murder of our brother, cousin, husband, and benefactor. Wherever these specious, incorrect, assumptions emanated from is at best from the pit of hell and unconscionable minds of its perpetrators. We are not part of this malicious campaign to put the family at disrepute
“Let Ayo Fayose go atop Olosunta Hill in Ikere or Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to swear that he did not have a hand in the killing. Let a thousand Obas proclaim his innocence. We know all that happened; so are a lot of other people – the threats, intimidation, and the harassment on the person of Ayo Daramola before he was eventually murdered.
“Ayo Daramola’s name in the last six years has been a recurrent decimal in the history of Ekiti. The reason for this is not far-fetched. He was humane. He was very passionate about bringing developmental changes to the land that he loved and cherished so much. But Fayose and his cohorts felt uncomfortable with this.
“We are still pained by the death of our beloved; an illustrious son of Ijan who was only interested in service to Ekiti and his people. We remain resolute on the fact that it was during Fayose’s reign of terror in Ekiti that the devious act occurred. Because of this, there are questions that he should answer the given the fact that he was the number one citizen of the state at that time. Today, Ayo Fayose may claim to be a changed person. He may swear by whatever god. He may put on the best of traditional attires and employ the service of local drummers and dance round Ekiti because he wants to be governor? again. But he should not forget the Yoruba saying, Iyan ogun odun a ma joni lowo. The Law of Karma is a very constant law of nature. If he escapes the judgment of men, he will not escape the judgment of God! This, we know