Adebayo Adenrele
…as Victim calls for Governor Oyebanji’s intervention
A former two-time commissioner in Ekiti State, Alhaji Tajudeen Arowolo, has assaulted a female journalist in the state during an altercation over a piece of land.
Arowolo assaulted Elizabeth Bamidele, in her hometown in Ado Ekiti, the State capital, after a slight altercation occurred between the duo.
Speaking with journalists, the victim alleged that the former commissioner turned land grabber, on Tuesday led some thugs to beat her for denying him access into her landed property where she erected her building four years ago.
She revealed that she got her land from one Evangelist, Obafemi Oladele (Igbari Family), with documents in 2011, and she completed the house and moved in 2020.
Bamidele explained further that her landed property is located on the New Iyin Ekiti road in Ado Ekiti, thereby questioning the connection between Iyin Ekiti and Awo Ekiti, which are two different towns and with many kilometers away from each other.
According to her, despite an intervention by the Nigeria Police Force, Ekiti State Command, Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo has refused to let peace reign in her house.
She said, “The case was to be charged to court (yesterday), 31st October, 2024 and both of us were told to report at the Ekiti State Police Headquarters but on getting to there, I was told that Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo refused to honor the Police’s invitation because he said he has a burial program to attend on Friday, 1st of November, 2024.”
In his response, Alhaji Tajudeen Arowolo stated he was unable to honour the Police invitation on Thursday because he was bereaved and not in town, assuring he would be present on Monday or Tuesday rescheduled for the court proceedings.
He added, “If you look at the mental sense of the lady, you will realize that she is not mentally stable. If you also look at the statement she wrote at the police station, you will know that she has also indicted herself already”.
Arowolo queried how she would defiled the order of the Police in respect of the land in question. He accused the victim of buying the land from somebody who stole the land, who was the wrong person.
“We told her that the land in question does not belong to the person from whom she bought it. We also reported her to the Police Station so we would not take the laws into our own hands”.
Speaking further, he denied the allegations, saying, he knows the values of human being, as a two-time former Commissioner in Ekiti State.
He alleged that the woman was the first person to hold one of his boys during the fight and she could have sustained injuries in the process when they were being separated, while also denying beating her with sticks.
Meanwhile, findings made by two eyewitnesses (names withheld) at the scene of the incident of assault on Thursday, revealed that Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo, a professional land grabber at the Rock / Peace Arena located on the new Iyin Ekiti road did allegedly beat up the woman with sticks, thereby inflicting bodily injury on her within the premises of her landed property.
As a result of the injuries sustained from the incident, she was taken to the hospital for treatment by the Police Officers assigned to handle the matter by the State’s Commissioner of Police, Akinwale Adeniran.
Bamidele called on the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji to intervene as her life and that of her kids are under the threat of the former commissioner.