The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has called on the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Patrick Longe, to arrest those behind the killing of a member of the party in the Ilesa-East Local Government Area of the state, Ebenezer Alaro.
Alaro was reportedly killed last Friday by suspected hoodlums in front of his father’s house in Ilesa.
The Osun APC, in a statement by its acting Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, obtained in Osogbo on Sunday, alleged that some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party might be involved in the incident and called for their immediate arrest.
Lawal stated that a certain PDP leader in the area who he alleged must be the mastermind of the killing should be arrested by the police.
According to him, thugs working for the said leader of PDP in the area have been attacking, maiming and killing APC members and supporters in the Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area, and that many residents had fled the area.
“Based on the (PDP leader’s threats) and outbursts in the past, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to submit that he is a dangerous human being who is not fit to be living in the midst of the people.
“The video recording of his past threats in a meeting which has gone viral where he threatened to use maximum force against any member of the APC that might come his way during the last governorship election is an attestation to the fact that the PDP leader is a violent human being,” Lawal said.
But in a counter statement, the PDP leadership in the state accused two APC leaders of recruiting hoodlums from neighbouring states and bringing them into Osun to disrupt the forthcoming general elections.
The Director-General of the Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council in Osun State, Mr Sunday Bisi, in the statement, said, “As we count down to the election day on Saturday, we’re witnessing an influx of armed thugs into the state, being sponsored by key APC leaders. In the last few days, we noticed the movement of thugs into Osun State and are fully aware of all the hotels in Osun East and other parts of the state where they were lodged.
“Our credible findings detailed that the daredevil hands have been prepared to unleash violence, intimidate innocent people and target our members for attacks in order to scare them away from participating in the polls.”
This quite explains the surge in violence on PDP members, especially in Osun East, where many have come under increasing scare for their lives.
“We call on APC leaders to withdraw the violent actors brought into the state for the purpose of the election within 72 hours. Failure to do so will see the PDP hand out their locations to security agencies in order to force them out of the state.”
