Palpable tension engulfed atmosphere in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, on Tuesday, July 2, after several gunshots were fired at the State Secretariat of the Osun Park Management System (OPMS).
It was gathered that the crisis was caused by protests against alleged extortion, high-handedness, and death threats by an appointee of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The crisis erupted barely 18 months after Governor Adeleke appointed Nurudeen Wakili, also known as Alowonle, as the chairman of the Osun park managers.
The incident began on Tuesday morning when a group of park managers, led by a man identified as Aroso and former State Secretary of the National Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Morounkade Akinade, protested against the chairman over issues including extortion and non-remittance of revenue to the government.
The protesters took over the secretariat, chasing away the executives of the park managers.
However, the executives regrouped and countered the protesters, leading to a gun battle and a fight that resulted in the injury to Alowonle. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
Speaking about the protest, Akinade alleged: “Wakili always extort us. He collected N1.2m from us when Adeleke was conferred as Asiwaju of Ede Land. He very found of collecting money with the name of Adeleke’s family. If anyone challenged him he will threaten such person. So we decided that we don’t want him again. We don’t want him to direct the affairs of this Osun Transport Management System.”
But the embattled Chairman, Nurudeen Alowonle debunked the allegations saying those behind the attack are enemies of Government.
For now, combined security operatives have been mobilized to the State Secretariat to maintain law and order.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola said that the command is aware of the incident and has drafted operatives to the area affected. (The Nation)
