July 12, (THEWILL) — The killings in Osun State is yet to abate days after the Police linked politicians to the death of at least 30 persons in the state, confirmed that they had already made a number of arrests in connection with the incidents and publicly paraded many suspects and arraigned others before the courts.
Confirmed reports say that on Monday, July 6, the same day that the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Aniete Iniedu publicly linked politicians in the state to the killings, suspected political thugs invaded Ijebu-Jesa, Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State and fired sporadically, leaving one person dead and four others injured.
Coming on the heels of the upcoming August 15, 2026 governorship poll in the state, this barbarism in the name of politics would most likely claim more lives unless more drastic actions are taken beside the arrest and prosecution of suspects.
For some reasons, at least in the face of allegations of partiality levelled by CSOs against Police Commission, Ibrahim Goitan, CSP Aniedu declined to disclose the identities of the suspects, the specific cases under investigation or the politicians allegedly connected to the violence, saying such details could prejudice ongoing judicial proceedings and amount to trial by the media.
According to him, the Police will make the information public after investigations have been concluded and the courts have determined the pending cases. Well said.
But if we go by the “slow motion,” nature of Nigerian courts, particularly in matters involving politicians who break all known codes of conduct with impunity and get away with it, the cases may not be determined before the conduct of the governorship poll on August 15, when their outcomes would be of any use. Meaning that the bloodbath might continue.
Even when IGP Olatunji Disu recently visited Osogbo to assess the security situation following rising political tension and pre-election violence in the state, his meeting with the Chief Security Officer of the state, Governor Ademola Adeleke did not yield much apart from the usual appeal for tolerance among politicians and to parents and guardians to discourage their children and wards from allowing themselves to be used as political thugs or instruments for settling political scores.
The truth that is stirring everybody in the face and nobody wants to admit it is that loyalists of Governor Adeleke, who is seeking re-election and those of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, are the main culprits in this pre-election violence.
In their blind rage, they fail to know that killing rivals and making the state insecure through thuggery not only ends up frightening the people and electorate but also courts public mistrust of whichever 6 of the party that eventually triumphs in the violence.
Sadly, this violence is a reminder that life has become so cheap and meaningless in Nigeria. On the one hand, terrorists, kidnappers and bandits have made killings a huge business. Their political cousins are into doing badly.
Governance is about people as it is with policies, programmes and projects by the elected and appointed officials. This point needs to be made to remind politicians that they cannot eat their cakes and have them. They cannot start killing the same people they expect to vote for them.
We condemn the ongoing killings and urge the governor and minister to rein in their loyalists. The security agencies must be bold enough to identify, and publish the names of culprits and the political parties they belong to, as well as their political sponsors.
