An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has discharged and acquitted the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Jide Awe, and two others who were arraigned for murder.
The defendants had been on trial for the alleged murder of Madam Juliana Adewunmi and Murphy Jeje, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2013.
The late Adewunmi was the mother of Mr. Segun Adewunmi, the current Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
The two others discharged by Justice Bamidele Omotosho are Sola Adenijo and Sefiu Owonikoko. But Owonikoko died about three weeks ago.
Their discharge and acquittal followed the withdrawal of the murder charges on Wednesday by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kolapo Kolade, on the order of Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Kolade said the state was withdrawing the case in order to promote peace and brotherliness among the people of Erinjiyan Ekiti, which is the community where both the complainant and the defendants in the matter hail from.
He also said the governor consented to the withdrawal of the case in spite of political differences because of his belief in posterity, peace and welfare of the people of the community which was said to have been divided over the court case.
Speaking with newsmen on the development, Kolade said, “What happened in court today is far beyond politics; the governor, in his usual characteristic manner of promoting peace and brotherliness in all communities in Ekiti and across party lines, has intervened.
