Violence broke out in Erijiyan Ekiti in Ekiti West Local Government Area on Saturday night as hoodlums shot dead a man identified as Mr. Ayo Jeje in front of his house.
The deceased was said to be one of the members of the Action Congress of Nigeria, who were scheduled to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday.
Our correspondent gathered that an elderly woman and another man were shot and injured by the hoodlums, who unleashed terror on the community.
The hoodlums were also said to have vandalised houses and vehicles of members of PDP in the community.
A PDP member, Dr. Emmanuel Fasanu, told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday that his vehicle and those belonging to other PDP members were also vandalised by the hoodlums.
Fasanu alleged that the killing and the destruction were carried out by hoodlums allegedly hired by ACN to disrupt the planned defection of thousands of members of the ruling party to PDP.
Chairman of PDP in the state, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Femi Omolusi, claimed that Jeje, Adewumi and others were attacked "where they were meeting to fine-tune their preparation for a programme, during which Mr. Segun Adewumi wants to lead over 1,000 members of ACN to PDP."
Ogundipe charged the police to arrest the killers of Jeje and those who unleashed terror on the community.
However, Chairman of ACN in the state, Chief Jide Awe, who is an indigene of Erinjiyan Ekiti, while speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, said his party knew nothing about the killing.
Awe said the killing in Erijiyan followed the pattern of violence earlier recorded in the state, saying the fight was between a faction of the PDP which did not want another faction to hold its programme.
He stated that a faction of the PDP heard that the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd); and former Governor Ayo Fayose would attend the PDP programme in Erijiyan and orchestrated the violence to prevent the gathering.
He said, "The man (name withheld) has been around since Friday. He is a gunrunner and everybody knows this. He started shooting, which is his style. After the shooting, one Ayo Jeje was found dead and two others were injured.
"They did the same thing in Oye, in Ikere, in Ilawe and in Efon in the past, the PDP are the ones attacking themselves. When a party is in crisis, it is logical that a faction would not want another to outshine it."
"ACN knows nothing about this and we would never engage in such act. We are known for peace, even when provoked, we don't take the law into our hands."
Calls put across to the telephone of the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Victor Babayemi, by our correspondent were not picked and a text message sent to him was not responded to.
