No fewer than three persons were wounded yesterday and two arrested and detained over the conduct of the elections into the State Executive Council of the Nigeria Union of Teachers(NUT), Ekiti chapter.
The victims, who were delegates drawn from some primary and secondary schools across the state were said to have been arrested and allegedly beaten by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps( NSCDC) and Department of State Security (DSS).
Addressing journalists after the chaos, a contestant, Mr Lucas Adu, said those arrested were in the custody of the DSS while the injured have been taken to Ekiti State University Teaching hospital for treatment.
The aggrieved candidate said the NUT electoral body was about starting the election when some of his supporters had queried the rationale behind the choosing of the delegates.
He accused the outgoing chairman , Mr Samuel Akosile of inviting the DSS and NSCDC who invaded the place and chased them out of the election venue.
Adu said the security men had shot sporadically into the air to scare them, and some members got injured in the process.
Adu accused the outgoing chairman, Comrade Samuel Akosile and the NU Secretary, Mr Olugbega Ajibade of shortchanging a faction , operating under the banner of Progressive Group of NUT by allegedly doctoring the delegate list to favour another contestant-Segun Odugbesan.
He said the group had in a petition dated October 25 and signed by one Mr Adeparusi S.T. and addressed to the NUT headquarters in Abuja , complained about the lopsidedness and nothing was done to correct the perceived infraction.
Adu said: “We want outright cancellation of this election. They started by doctoring the delegate lists. For instance, in Ado local government, the delegate list ought to be 87, they reduced it to 37, because Akosile knew that his group didn’t win in the local government. But he jacked the delegate lists in councils where his group won.
“ We wrote protest letters to the governor, national secretariat over the looming crisis. But when we got to the election centre, we said the manipulations should be addressed. They denied us of our right and we left the place in anger .
Adu said some of their wounded members have been taken to Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in Ado Ekiti for treatment. .
But the State Secretary of the union denied the allegation, saying no delegate list was doctored, saying the delegates were carefully chosen in line with the constitution and based on financial strength of the local governments.
Ajibade said nobody was beaten by security agencies, clarifying that security men were only there to maintain law and order.
“Before the election, the issue was taken to the state executive council and all the representatives from the 16 local governments were present. At the meeting, the numbers allotted to each council was read and nobody raised objection. So, it was wrong for them to come and raised the issue on election day”
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