The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration of backing an armed attack in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State, which reportedly left three people dead and a police officer injured.
Addressing journalists at an emergency press briefing, the coordinator of the Osun APC Media Cluster, Olufunsho Fagbohungbe, said the violence erupted at Naira and Kobo Junction in Ikire, where armed men allegedly linked to the Accord Party stormed local motor parks in a bid to seize control of the area.
“Innocent commuters, a commercial driver, and travelers passing through the area lost their lives in this attack. This was not a mere street brawl, it was a calculated assault on public safety,” Fagbohungbe said.
He said the situation escalated when the Divisional Police Officer of the Irewole Police Division responded to a distress call after an APC member was reportedly abducted and taken to a motor park to be tortured.
“When DPO responded to the distress call, the officers were attacked and had their service rifles seized by these armed men. We have identified them as Soskid, T. Banson, and Ayewo. The latter two are already wanted individuals with existing criminal records,” he said.
Fagbohungbe linked the attack to a broader pattern of unresolved political killings in the local government, recalling the February 17, 2025 murder of former Irewole council chairman, Hon. Remi Abass, for which no arrests have been made despite Accord Party chieftain Jide Jooda being repeatedly named a suspect.
He noted that the timing of the violence was particularly troubling, coming just days after APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, and Governor Adeleke separately visited President Bola Tinubu, who had reportedly directed that Osun State remain peaceful and governed by the rule of law.
“While our candidate has continuously sued for peace and chosen the path of constitutional engagement, the response from the governor and his allies has been to intensify street violence and disarm police officers,” Fagbohungbe said.
He accused Governor Adeleke, as Chief Security Officer of the state, of failing to prevent the attack.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, the Assistant Inspector-General overseeing Zone 11, and the Osun State Commissioner of Police to deploy security operatives to Ikire immediately, recover the stolen police weapons, and arrest those we have named, including Senator Lere Oyewumi,” he said.
Speaking further, the deputy coordinator of the group, Segun Fawale, called on Governor Adeleke to halt what he described as a coordinated attempt to silence the opposition.
“We’re calling on Governor Ademola Adeleke to stop all violent attacks which look like a coordinated attempt to silence opposition. It indicates that the governor is liable for this action. We’re calling on the governor to respect the statement he made to the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, during his working visit to Osun, that even if it is his own son that is caught causing violence in Osun, he should be arrested,” Fawale said.
Also speaking, the group’s secretary, Miftau Adebowale, decried what he called a systemic failure in the state’s prosecution system, noting that Monday’s attack was not an isolated case.
“We have observed a systemic failure in our prosecution system in Osun. The brutal incident that happened in Ikire today is not the first time it has happened in the same town. It happened in February last year, when the reinstated chairman of Irewole Local Government, Hon. Remi Abass, was killed, and one of the persons fingered in the murder, Jide Jooda, who is an ally of Ademola Adeleke and a chieftain of Accord Party, has been moving around the town and Osun without being prosecuted,” Adebowale said.
He added, “In line with this, we’re calling on the Inspector-General of Police, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, and all other security agencies to look into this issue as a matter of urgency, because citizens can no longer go about their daily business activities due to these everyday attacks.”
The APC extended condolences to the families of those killed in the attack and urged its members and residents of the state to remain calm and avoid reprisals.
Advertisement