Two-Time Commissioner Allegedly Assaults Woman Journalist In Ekiti

… Says Her Life, 3 Children Under Threat 

… As Arowolo Denies Assaulting Her

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… Videos Inside

By Joseph Sunday 

A two-time Commissioner in Ekiti State, Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo, has allegedly assaulted a woman journalist, Mrs Elizabeth Bamidele, in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

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Mrs. Bamidele, who cried out for help, said her life and those of her three children are presently in danger, and pleaded with the governor of Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, to rescue and save her from the activities of Alhaji Arowolo, whom she alleged was a “land grabber“ and other land grabbers disturbing her peace and that of her children. 

Bamidele accused a group of unnamed individuals she described as “land grabbers” who she said beat her up, and assaulted her on Tuesday, 30 October, 2024 in the process of trying to resist the attempt to trespass on her landed property.

She said, they were trespassing where she erected her building four years ago, and that they were led by the said Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo, who hailed from Awo Ekiti.

According to her, she got her piece of land from one Evangelist Obafemi Oladele (Igbari Family) in 2011 and that she completed the house and moved in during the COVID19 pandemic in 2020. 

She claimed that other people also tormenting her on the land were Yemi Omojo Ibo, Daniel, Ojo and Mr Tunde, and pleaded that the governor should come to her aid. 

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Narrating her ordeal at the Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, Bamidele said she was “brutally harassed and beaten up by the said Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo,” and added in her claim that her property was located at the New Iyin Road in Ado Ekiti, thereby questioning the connection between Iyin Ekiti and Awo Ekiti where Alhaji Tajudeen Olamide Arowolo hails from. 

She said despite an intervention by the Police in the state, the said Alhaji Arowolo had refused to allow her live in peace in her house. 

“The case was to be charged to court on 31st October, but getting to the Police Headquarters, I realized that Alhaji Arowolo had refused to honor the invitation by the police, on the ground that he would be attending a burial on Friday. 

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Bamidele expressed worries about her safety and that of her children as a result of the activities of the men. 

Reacting to the allegations, Alhaji Arowolo said he could not honour the police invitation because he was bereaved and was not in town, assuring he would be present on Monday or Tuesday rescheduled for the court proceedings. 

Asked if Mrs Bamidele was assaulted and beaten with sticks, Arowolo denied the allegations, saying “if you look at the statement she wrote at the police station, you will know that she has indicted herself already.”

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On the land in dispute, he alleged that Bamidele bought the land from somebody who stole the land, who is a 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 in order for us not to take the laws into our hands. 

He said as a two-time Commissioner in Ekiti State, he knew the value of human life, adding that he knew what it entailed to engage in such things but acknowledged that she held unto one of his boys and in the cause of the fighting, she might have been injured in the process of him trying to separate her from one of his boys she held. 

Alhaji Arowolo also denied using sticks on her.

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Meanwhile witnesses at the scene claimed that Arowolo beat up Bamidele with sticks thereby inflicting body injury on her after which she was taken to hospital for treatment in company of Police.   

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