2 Killed as Gunmen Attack APC Meeting in Osogbo

(APC member. Photo by Nation News)

Hoodlums reportedly attacked a political mobilization meeting for the party's governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, killing at least two All Progressives Congress (APC) members and injuring six more with gunshots.

According to information obtained by The Nation, party members had assembled in two groups for a mobilization meeting in the Owode-Igbona area on Wednesday night before to the official launch of the APC governorship campaign in Ile-Ife.

The assailants then assaulted the gathering.

According to a source, the attackers tried to take away Ogunteru, one of the APC youth leaders, after arriving at the location in a white bus while wearing black, police-like uniforms.

Top APC leaders, including the Media Head of the Governorship Campaign Council, Engr. Oluremi Omowaiye; former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Adebayo Adeleke; and Senior Special Assistant to the President, Ambassador Issah Niniola, later visited the scene of the attack and the hospitals where injured victims were receiving treatment. Reader discretion is advised.

Narrating his ordeal, APC youth leader Mr. Ogundele Awosola, also known as Ogunteru, alleged that he and other members were targeted because they had recently defected from the Accord Party to the APC.

He recounted that they were holding a meeting when a white bus and another vehicle approached, which they initially assumed belonged to police officers and therefore did not flee.

He said one of the attackers, whom he identified as Rugged, pointed a gun at him and ordered him to follow, but he resisted, insisting he was not a cult member, and after the attacker fired a shot into the air to intimidate him, he managed to push past him and escape.

He said he later contacted the police, who discovered upon arrival that several members had been shot, and recovered a new Beretta pistol at the scene. He claimed the attackers had been monitoring the area since his group joined the APC, further alleging that some of the suspected attackers had recently been released from prison, naming two individuals he claimed were involved.

Victims of the attack were identified as Kazeem Akande, 70, and a man known as Lekan, both of whom reportedly died from gunshot wounds.

Others injured included the area's APC flag bearer, Kehinde Salaudeen, 60; Olalekan Mutiu; and a 13-year-old girl, Rodiyat Ariyo, among others.

A former Accord Party local government chairman who recently defected to the APC, Hon. Akinloye Isiaka, said he narrowly avoided the attack after leaving the meeting shortly before the gunmen arrived.

Speaking to journalists at Osogbo Central Hospital, he said Awosola had invited him to the gathering, and he had just departed when the attack occurred, adding that he was demanding justice for those who lost their lives.

Ambassador Niniola condemned the attack, alleging it was politically motivated and claiming that individuals recently released from prison were being armed to unleash violence on APC members and instil fear among voters.

He called on the international community to take note of developments in Osun, dismissed suggestions that the victims were cultists as illogical, and urged party members not to be intimidated.

Also speaking, former commissioner Adebayo Adeleke alleged that some of the perpetrators were linked to the Government House and called on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene urgently, describing the attack as premeditated.

He said the security situation in Osun was becoming increasingly worrying, referencing earlier concerns about alleged misuse of police uniforms by some Amotekun operatives to commit crimes, adding that survivors described the attackers as wearing black uniforms.

Omowaiye confirmed that the bodies of the two deceased members had been taken to the morgue, adding that X-rays of gunshot victims suggested the use of AK-47 rifles.

He called on security agencies to ensure the perpetrators face justice, asserting that the people had rejected Governor Adeleke and that the violence would not prevent the APC from winning the election.

Reacting to the incident, Governor Ademola Adeleke called for calm, describing the attack as a suspected cult-related killing and rejecting allegations that the state government was in any way involved.

In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor said the reports of a suspected cult killing in Osogbo were received with concern, and called on security agencies to enforce the law by apprehending those responsible, describing the killing and subsequent violence as condemnable.

He stressed that cult-related violence in Osogbo needed to be curtailed immediately to prevent further deterioration of the state's already delicate security situation following recent political unrest.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Police Command, through its Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incidents, disclosing that two suspects had been arrested in connection with one of the attacks, while weapons and ammunition were recovered at another scene.

Regarding the Egbatedo incident, he said one person was killed, several others injured, and two suspects arrested, adding that some names mentioned by witnesses were already on the police watch list and that investigations were ongoing.

On the separate Owode-Igbona incident, he said no arrests had yet been made, though arms and ammunition were recovered, and he could not yet confirm the casualty figure, though several people were known to have sustained injuries, with investigations continuing.

(APC member. Photo by Nation News)