I’m Not Involved In Any Killing, Osun APC Chieftain Denies Allegation

TIsmaeel Uthman for the killing of the PDP member. Meanwhile, the deceased was killed in Unit 5, Ward 4.

HE Organising Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, Alhaji Rasidi Adeniji, has said that he does not know anything about the killing of a member of the Peoples Democra c Party (PDP) in Ila, during last Saturday’s House of Assembly elec on.

Adeniji said he was rescued by the police from armed thugs of the PDP who waylaid him when he was running from being attacked at his polling unit.

A video showing Adeniji being taken away by the police with a van had dominated the social media space with cap on that the APC chie ain allegedly led hoodlums to kill a PDP member in Ila.

But Adeniji, in an interview with OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday, said: “On the elec on day, I was at my polling unit 3, ward 5. I did not leave the unit since morning. I was wai ng to get the result of the votes before leaving the polling unit.

“While wai ng, a PDP man, Mufu Jope, rushed to my unit and shouted that some people have killed a PDP member known as Gani Gele and that they were going to kill six APC members in retalia on. He pointed at me where I sat and said I would suffer

“I stood up immediately and rushed down to my car. Before ge ng to my car, about 30 thugs of the PDP had arrived, but I managed to drive out of the place.

“The thugs were chasing me as I was driving. I drove through the College of Educa on trying to link a road to Osogbo, but before I got to the secretarial road, the PDP thugs had connected themselves and the waylaid me. They vandalized my car and star ng bea ng me.

“I was lucky that some police officers who were on elec on duty came on me; they rescued me and took me to police sta on in Ila. The police wanted to keep me safe in a room but before we knew it, there was already a crowd of thugs outside the sta on. The police had to disperse them with tear gas to rescue me out of the place.

“The senator-elect for Osun Central, Olubiyi Fadeyi known as Ajagunla was inside the police sta on and he was video-recording me. He was the one who recorded and posted the video laying a false claim that I killed someone.

“I was taken to the State Police Command in Osogbo; the police asked for my offence and complainant, they insisted they could not detain me if there was no complainant.

“When I was about to be released, someone called the police and they later detained me; I slept in the cell ll the following morning.

“On Sunday, the police went to the scene of the incidence in Ila and asked for the APC and PDP party agents; they brought the two agents to Osogbo.

“During interroga on, both APC and PDP agents said it was the PDP Ward 4 Party Chairman that brought the thug known as Ojo who killed the deceased. They explained that the thug had wanted to shoot an APC member before a misdirec on happened and resulted to the killing of the PDP member.

“It was a er that interroga on and upon convicon that I was innocent that the police released me.

“I didn’t know anything about the killing at all.” of possible breakdown of violence a er the judgment as witnessed a er the elec on pe on tribunal verdict.

Meanwhile the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the state police command to invesgate the allega on against Adeniji.

Ac ng Chairman of the party, Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement said there is need for the police to get to the root of the killing.

He also enjoined the police to inves gate the pockets of crises that characterised the elecons in some towns like Ile-Ife, Osogbo, Iragbiji, Olorunda among others where some alleged PDP thugs had a field day unhindered.

OSUN DEFENDER observed that members of the APC are anxious about the judgment, just as it was noted that PDP members were apprehensive.

However, the police have assured residents of the state of adequate security, saying that officers of the force are fully on ground to forestall any breakdown of law and other.

Police Public Rela ons Officer, Osun Command, Mrs Yemisi Opalola, in an interview with the medium yesterday warned poli cians and other poli cal stakeholders to warn their followers against fomenting trouble, maintaining that the police will not spare anybody in its opera on to maintain peace.

Adeleke, in the 31 grounds of appeal, also sought “an order striking out the pe on for want of competence and jurisdic on or in the alternave, an order dismissing the pe on on the merit”.

Adeleke submi ed that the tribunal exhibited bias when it said: “The second respondent cannot ‘go lo lo lo lo’ and ‘buga won’ as the duly elected governor of Osun state.”

Oyetola and the APC, in a cross appeal, also asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the tribunal on Adeleke’s educa onal qualifica on and eligibility to contest the governorship elecon.

The tribunal had in the judgment read by its chairman, Tertsea Kume, dismissed the pe on challenging Adeleke’s qualifica on for the elecon.

The panel said the educa onal qualifica ons which the governor used to contest in 2018 does not need cer fica on.

But Oyetola and the APC were not sa sfied with the decision of the court. Their counsels, Lateef Fagbemi and Akin Olujimi, approached the Court of Appeal to set it aside on the ground that forgery of cer ficate was proved against Adeleke.

OSUN DFENDER noted that there is palpable fear among members of the Peoples Democra c Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as other residents of the state.

Some of the residents have expressed the fear

Opalola also warned poli cal thugs and other miscreants in the state to be ready to face the full wrath of law, advising them to stay away from causing violence or any misconduct.

Rights Ac vist Warns Against Violence

A Civil Rights ac vist, Naheem Olaore, has warned poli cians and their followers against violence as the Court of Appeal delivers judgment today.

Olaore who is the Secretary of Centre for Social Jus ce and Public Protec on (CSJPP), said the warning became imperave going by the pockets of violence witnessed before and during the last general elec ons.

The former Chairman of Joint Campus Committee of the Na onal Associa on of Nigerian Students (NANS) in the State of Osun, in a statement on Thursday, tasked policians to be civil and allow democra c processes to grow.

He lamented what it described as growing poli cal violence in the state, calling on the police and other security agencies to ensure that Osun is not turned to a theatre of war.

According to Olaore, thuggery and pollical brigandage are fast becoming an existen al threat that needed to be nipped in the bud before it goes out of hand.

Olaore submi ed that he would con nue to campaign against social vices, corrup on, bad governance and poli cal violence, not minding the threats to his life as a result of his acvism.