Opposing political factions in Osun State have traded fierce allegations following a violent outbreak at a motor park in Ikire on Monday, which left five people dead, including three commercial drivers and two passers-by, and multiple police officers assaulted.
The clash has sparked severe criticism of local law enforcement from the Accord Party. State Accord Chairman Victor Akande denied any attempt to forcibly hijack the garage, insisting that routine operations were disrupted without provocation. Instead, he accused Irewole Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Bamidele Olatona of orchestrating the mayhem, claiming it reflected a long-standing pattern of partisan bias dating back to the pre-election period.
“Eyewitness accounts confirm that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Irewole Division, Mr Bamidele Olatona, personally stormed the public garage and opened fire sporadically into a crowd of unarmed civilians,” Akande stated. He called on Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu, the state command, and the Police Service Commission to immediately arrest, evaluate, dismiss, and prosecute the officer.
Conversely, the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration of enabling state-backed political terror through Accord-aligned thugs. Speaking to journalists in Osogbo, the Chairman of the Osun APC Media Cluster, Oluwafunsho Fagbohungbe, asserted that the violence erupted when armed gangsters attempted to forcibly seize transport hubs, paralysing the town’s economy.
Fagbohungbe further alleged that law enforcement officers were targeted while responding to a kidnapping. “When the Divisional Police Officer of the Irewole Police Division responded to a distress call after an APC member was abducted and taken to a motor park for torture, these hoodlums turned their weapons on law enforcement. Officers were assaulted,” he said.
In the wake of the bloodshed, the APC urged top police leadership, including the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Inspector-General for Zone 11, and the Osun State Commissioner of Police, to deploy maximum force to restore order in Ikire, secure local government secretariats, and retrieve stolen police weaponry. Meanwhile, Accord maintained its commitment to peaceful coexistence in the state.