Kere-Ekiti was still groan ing yesterday under the weight of Saturday’s peaceful protest that turned violent.
The government has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the town.
The protest was against government’s bid to relocate the College of Education government to Ifaki-Ekiti, Governor Segun Oni’s hometown.
At least one person was shot dead in the violence and some 20 others were arrested.
Riot policemen have been deployed in the town from Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, to enforce the curfew which begins at 7.00 pm and ends at 6.00 am daily.
The government, in a statement by Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation Mr Odunayo Ategbero, said the curfew was imposed to restore peace, adding that it remains in force until normalcy returns.
However, trading of blame over the riot continued yesterday as residents counted their losses.
Riot policemen stood at the main junctions of the town as commercial drivers, unsure of what would happen, stayed off the streets.
Some churches recorded low turnout of worshippers following the late receipt of the news of the dusk-to-dawn curfew, which was aired intermittently on the state-owned radio and television stations.
A source said the traditional ruler of Ikere, the Ogoga, Oba Samuel Adegoke Adegboye, Akaiyejo II is taking refuge in Ado-Ekiti.
The palace of the monarch, his private home and that of his wife were vandalised by rampaging youths who accused him and his chiefs of betrayal over the college relocation crisis.
The Chairman of Ikere Local Government, Mr Olasunkanmi Ogunbiyi, who during the crisis was injured is in an Ado-Ekiti hotel from where he now attends to official duties.
The government has accused the opposition Action Congress(AC) of being behind the crisis.
The state chapter of the AC in a statement, dismissed an allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration that its (AC) members were responsible for the violent protest.
In the statement by the state AC Chairman, Chief Olajide Awe, which was given to reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the party slammed the Oni-led administration, saying its alleged “incompetence, its clueless mission and executive incorrigibility” pushed the town into what it called “an untold but avoidable pogrom.”
“The Ikere crisis was as a result of the realisation of the people that an unsteady foundation would engender a defective structure and the people don’t need anyone to teach them this,” it said, adding that it has now become fashionable for the PDP administration to “blame its woes on imaginary enemies.”
Former Governor Ayodele Fayose appealed for calm, saying that the “level of emotional attachment the Ikere community has for the college overtime has turned the college to an economic live wire of the people.”
Fayose, in a statement he personally signed, regretted the loss of life and property during the riot.
“If the Oni-led government insists on taking away the College from the Ikere people for whatever reason, any listening government after Oni’s government will surely reverse and restore the rights of the Ikere people to them,” he added.
A socio-political pressure group, Ekiti Democratic Coalition Alliance (EDCA), faulted the relocation of the college without tabling a bill before the House of Assembly to legalise it.
In a statement by the EDCA National Co-ordinator, Mr Morakinyo Ogele, the group appealed for calm.
EDCA condemned a statement by Oni’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr Moses Jolayemi, accusing some elders of the town of complicity in the violence.