EKITI COMMUNITY PROTESTS ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO RELOCATE FEDERAL VARSITY

THE people of Ikole-Ekiti yesterday protested an alleged move to relocate the proposed federal university sited in the community.

The protesters, mainly youths, made bonfires and carried placards with various inscriptions. They condemned the alleged statements of Senator Ayo Arise and the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), that the university would be relocated to Oye-Ekiti by all means.

The irate youths, under the umbrella of Ikole Local Council Students Union led by Mr. Michael Adesoji, were joined by old men and women. Threatening war, they converged as early as 7.00 a.m. in front of the monarch's palace, where they condemned the planned relocation.

Arise, who spoke with journalists on telephone, however, described the allegation as laughable and unfounded, saying he never interfered in the siting of the university and that Governor Kayode Fayemi should be blamed for the crisis rocking the town.

The senator said Governor Fayemi has been politicising the location of the university by taking the glory that never belonged to him, stressing that the Federal Government owns the project and deserves the right to say where it should be located.

Governor Fayemi had reiterated that the siting of the university in Ikole-Ekiti is final, clarifying that he did the location after due consultation with relevant stakeholders at state and federal levels.

Head of the traditional chiefs of Ikole-Ekiti, Chief Mathew Okunola; the Olomodikole of the kingdom, Chief Olusegun Ogunjobi and the Oisa, Chief Ayo Owolabi, who addressed a press conference on behalf of the community, called for immediate arrest of Senator Arise and Olubolade for allegedly causing unrest in the town.