A lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), Dr. Abubakar Momoh, stirred up emotions yesterday at the Ekiti State Election Petitions Tribunal when he displayed the blood-stained cloth he wore during the April 25 rerun governorship election.

Momoh, who was one of the election observers attacked by suspected thugs in Ifaki-Ekiti, the hometown of Governor Segun Oni, said the exercise did not comply with the basic standards expected of elections.

In his statement on oath, Momoh said the thugs who attacked him and other observers in Ifaki police station were led by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Mr. Lanre Fayemi.

He said 195 Pounds Sterling in his wallet stolen was stolen in the melee.

The images of how he laid prostrate at the Ifaki Police Station shortly after the attack was showed again at yesterday’s sitting.

In the video, Momoh was being fanned by a fellow election observer, Dr. Azeez Olaniyan.

The university don, who was subpoenaed to give evidence in the petition filed by Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate Dr. Kayode Fayemi against Oni’s return as winner of the election. He was Petitioner Witness 37 (PW 37).

Answering a question from counsel to Police and the Inspector-General (IG), Mr. Sebastian Ozoana, that all his depositions in his witness statement on oath were false, Momoh said his (Ozoana’s) remark was "factually incorrect".

"His remark is factually incorrect. Everything that was said in the witness statement on oath is true. I am a Muslim and I have been fasting since 1974 and I have no reason to tell lies or deceive this tribunal," Momoh said.

It was at this point that the university don dipped his hand into the bag which he brought to the court and brought out the white T-shirt he wore on the day of the election to substantiate his depositions that he was attacked in Ifaki. It was drenched with blood.

Confronted with the sight of the blood-soaked cloth, Ozoana said he had no more questions for the witness and he was discharged from the witness box.

Earlier, in his testimony before the tribunal, lawyers to all the respondents, except Oni’s counsel, Chief Kunle Kalejaiye, asked Momoh few questions.

Under cross-examination from Kalejaiye, Momoh said he came to observe the Ekiti rerun poll under the aegis of the Civil Society Monitoring Group (CSMG), a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The NGOs, according to him, included ActionAid Nigeria, Justice, Peace and Development Commission (JPDC) and Women Action Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC).

Momoh said he had been observing elections within and outside the country.

He said he set out for Esure-Ekiti where he observed the election at Unit 9, Baptist Primary School polling unit, where he monitored the election till about 3:25 p.m. He ran into a gang of thugs at Ifaki-Esure junction shortly after leaving the unit.

Momoh gave a detailed account of what transpired at the junction in his witness statement on oath.

It reads: "After the conclusion of the exercise, we left the village (Esure) for Ado-Ekiti and when we arrived at Esure-Ifaki junction which is about 12 minutes walk from Ifaki Police Station.

"The policemen at this junction stopped and searched our vehicle and found nothing. They were engaging us in a chat when I saw a white-coloured bus on top speed moving daringly in our direction. I alerted the police about this and urged them to let them go because the bus looked suspicious.

"In some split seconds, the bus effectively blocked our car and a group of youths numbering about nine alighted from it with their leader wearing a multi-coloured T-shirt and holding a catapult.

"Their leader approached me, perhaps because I was sitting in the passenger’s seat at the front. He sought to know who we were and what we were doing in that vicinity at that point in time and I told him that we were election observers and that we went to observe the election in Esure.

"He replied ‘you people are not observers, you are AC members sent from Lagos by Bola Tinubu, show me your ID card’. My INEC accreditation ID was dangling over my neck and I showed it to him, (but) he would not budge.

"The rest of my colleagues similarly brought out their ID cards. Then he said he wanted to search our car and since the policemen did not object to that, we obliged him.

"After fruitless search of about six minutes intermittently followed by vociferous claim that we were AC members sent from Lagos to rig election, the youth went into their bus and brought out all kinds of weapons ranging from axe, machetes, wheel spanner, bottles and amulets.

"They began their barbaric act, first by giving me a chase directed at attacking me. The four policemen stood by watching. Indeed, one of them was even smiling and none of them was in protest of what was happening to us.

"In seconds, anarchy and barbarism reigned supreme; bottles and all sorts of harmful items were used on me and other two male observers, Dr. Olaniyan and Mr. Oyedokun.

"Then a surging crowd of youths and adults numbering over two hundred started walking from Ifaki town towards our direction, all of them wanting to take their own pound of flesh. Dr. Olaniyan’s car had been vandalised and the entire windscreen broken.

"At a point, they wanted to force me into their bus, I resisted. I became famished after much chase and beating from all corners. I was then carried to the Ifaki Police Station sandwiched between the shoulders of two youths and there was disagreement between the youths. A set wanted us killed instantly. Another set said it was better we were taken to the police station for further action.

"On the way to the police station, somebody from the rear urged the youth in his glare to clear off so that he could use his machete to chop off my head. The youth to my left on whose shoulder I was resting said he must not kill me.

"I was taken to the police station in Ifaki where I dropped both my wallet and cell phone at the counter. I passed out and was revived by Dr. Fouad Oki and Dr. Olaniyan who I met in the police cell."

During his cross-examination by Kalejaiye, Momoh admitted making a statement on Focus Nigeria, a current affairs programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on April 28, where he insisted that other election observers turned in reports which suggested that the election was neither free nor fair.

While being cross-examined by PDP counsel, Mr. Yinka Orokoto, who said he saw Momoh 25 years ago, the don described his status and that of other observers in a convoy of eight vehicles as "roving observers."

Responding to a question from counsel to the Returning Officer of Ido/Osi Local Government Area, Mr. Nathaniel Oke (SAN), that the election was held same day in the areas and wards, Momoh the election in Oye was put off till a later date.

When asked by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Roland Otaru (SAN), whether he was Hon. Abubakar Momoh, the scholar, said: "I am not Hon. Abubakar Momoh who was in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007. I am Dr. Abubakar Momoh."

An attempt by Olaniyan, the PW 38, to show the tribunal images of what transpired at the Ifaki Police Station in a Video Compact Disc (VCD) was opposed by respondents’ counsel.

The judges after hearing from Fayemi’s counsel, Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN) and respondents’ counsel retired into their chambers.

They emerged with a ruling after about 45 minutes, dismissing the objections of the respondents’ counsel and held that Olaniyan should go ahead and show the VCD for the court to see.

In the video, Olaniyan, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD), was seen fanning Momoh who was lying on the ground, unconscious.

He concluded his examination-in-chief under the guidance of Ali by identifying himself in the video.

When it was time for lawyers to all the respondents to cross-examine the witness, Oni’s lead counsel, Mr. Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN), said he has no question for him until today.

Adewale, Otaru, Oke and Ozoana aligned with Adenipekun.

They made an oral application for the deferment of Olaniyan’s cross-examination till today.