Protest on Saturday rocked Omuo-Ekiti where some people demonstrated against the alleged relocation of the Federal College of Education meant for the town to Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State.
It will be recalled that the Bill seeking for the establishment of the Federal College of Education Omuo-Ekiti, was sponsored by the Senator Representing Ekiti South senatorial district, Senator Biodun Olujimi and was passed by both chambers of the 9th National Assembly.
The protesters displayed placards such as: “On Omuo FCE we stand! No more! No less”; “This injustice must be redressed Return Our FCE back to us”; “Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul, FCE belong to Omuo Ekiti”, among others.
Efforts by the Nigerian Police, the Directorate of State Service and the other security agencies drafted to maintain law and order to prevail on the angry protesters to allow a free flow of traffic, were rebuffed.
Earlier in the morning, the paramount ruler of the community, His Royal Majesty, Oba Noah Omonigbehin, had directed that all markets, shops and other businesses must not open as a mark of protests for the alleged injustice brought on the community.
Addressing the protesters, a leader in the community, Chief Segun Akanle, appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, to come to the rescue of Omuo Ekiti by returning the Federal College of Education back to the town.
Akanle, who described the citizens of the community as law-abiding, noted that Omuo Ekiti has been working for the establishment of the institution for over ten years, adding that, a bill establishing the institution has been passed by both the 8th and 9th National Assembly and only awaiting presidential assent.
“We have 12 communities in Ekiti East and there is no federal or state presence in any of them. A bill establishing a College of Education has been passed and waiting for the president’s assent before the Ilawe people went through the backdoor to alter the location of the school.
“Why would the government establish two federal institutions in Ilawe and leave the remaining parts of the constituency? This is not acceptable. We have confidence in Tinubu to do the needful by righting the wrong and return the Federal College of Education to Omuo Ekiti where it rightly belongs.”
