Controversy as Ayefele allegedly collapses after show

Controversy surrounded the performance of gospel musician, Yinka Ayefele, in Ado Ekiti on Monday, as he was said to have collapsed after the show. According to his publicist, David Ajiboye, he was immediately rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the town. The musician, who was attacked by hoodlums in Akure, Ondo State on Saturday, was in Ado-Ekiti on the invitation of the Ekiti State Government to perform at the World Teachers Day. Apparently, he had not recovered from the injuries that he sustained during the attack on Saturday. “The doctors are treating Yinka in his home now. He is responding well to treatment,” Ajiboye said in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday. But the Special Assistant to the state Governor Ayo Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, noted that there was no problem during the show. He said in a telephone interview, “The programme was televised live. It started well and ended peacefully.” Other sources contacted denied knowledge of the incident. Ajiboye, however, said the singer’s condition was serious but not critical. But he painted a grim picture of Saturday’s sordid encounter with the hoodlums in Akure, saying, “They hit him on the chest with a piece of wood. They threw stones and other missiles at him. There was no way that he could defend himself because he was sitting on a wheelchair.” Even the armed mobile police guard that was assigned to provide security for the musician was wounded during the attack. Ajiboye said the guard could have fired at the hoodlums, but the musician had previously instructed him not to shoot so as to avoid a scandal. With the wounded policeman out of the way, there were no bodyguards to confront the attackers. Explaining why Ayefele, unlike most other popular artistes of his calibre, did not keep bodyguards, Ajiboye said, “Normally when we go out for a show, we take some money along for the settlement of area boys. So, we didn’t think it was necessary to hire bodyguards for this particular show.” Not less than three different sets of hoodlums, he said, approached Ayefele and his band for ‘settlement’ on Saturday. The first two sets were given N100,000 each. Then the third set demanded N500,000 from the musician. An argument had ensued between Ayefele and the hoodlums after he refused to grant their request. According to Ajiboye, the musician was saved from being murdered by a team of Civil Defence Corps operatives who promptly intervened in the matter and chased the hoodlums away. Earlier, a press statement signed by the publicist after the incident had indicated that Ayefele’s Ford Explorer 2015 model was vandalised and his recently acquired musical equipment, valued at N150m, was also destroyed by the attackers.