Gentlemen of the press, members of the Osun APC Media Cluster present here today, and the good people of Osun State. We have called this emergency press briefing to bring to the immediate attention of the Federal Government, security agencies, and the public the disturbing state of state-backed political terror, murder, and total breakdown of law and order currently unfolding in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area, and across Osun State.

As we speak, Ikire has been turned into a theater of bloodshed by armed thugs openly aligned with the Accord Party and operating under the political umbrella of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration. Earlier today at Naira and Kobo Junction in Ikire, these sponsored gangsters launched a violent assault to forcefully hijack local transport hubs. In the process, innocent commuters, a commercial driver, and passing travelers lost their lives in cold blood, creating widespread terror and bringing economic activities in the town to a chaotic halt.

This was not a mere street brawl. It was a calculated, armed attack on public safety and constitutional authority. 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, and service rifles were snatched from police personnel by known criminals, including a gunman identified as Soskid. Alongside Soskid, other identified field commanders of this violent operation include T. Banson and Ayewo, a notorious thug who is already on the wanted list of law enforcement.

This gestapo-style operation is part of a dark historical pattern in Irewole Local Government that the state government has consistently shielded. We must remind the world that on February 17th of last year, the Chairman of Irewole Local Government, Honorable Remi Abass, was brutally murdered in a similar violent attack. To this day, no one has been brought to justice for that heinous crime, despite Accord Party chieftain Jide Jooda being repeatedly identified as the prime suspect. The failure of state authorities to prosecute past political killings has directly emboldened these same violent elements to unleash terror today.

We have received credible information that this latest wave of violence in Ikire was allegedly coordinated and sponsored by Senator Lere Oyewumi, the Deputy Senate Minority Leader and Director-General of the Ademola Adeleke Campaign. Senator Oyewumi’s previous public utterances encouraging aggression against APC members have provided clear cover for these criminals. Today, those reckless statements have borne tragic results on the streets of Ikire.

The timing of this violence reveals complete contempt for constitutional authority. This attack comes barely days after our governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, and Governor Ademola Adeleke separately visited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. During that visit, President Tinubu gave a clear directive that Osun State must remain peaceful, stable, and governed by the rule of law. While Asiwaju Oyebamiji has continuously sued for peace, urged calm, and chosen the path of constitutional engagement, the response from Governor Adeleke and his Accord Party allies has been to intensify street violence, disarm police officers, and attempt to forcefully overrun local government secretariats where reinstated APC chairmen are performing their statutory duties.

We state unequivocally that Governor Ademola Adeleke, as the Chief Security Officer of Osun State, has abdicated his constitutional oath by allowing state-linked thugs and wanted fugitives to operate with total impunity.

The All Progressives Congress will not stand by while Osun is dragged into lawlessness. We make a direct call to the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 11, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, and other security chiefs. Security agencies must immediately deploy maximum force to reclaim Ikire, secure all local government secretariats, and recover all stolen police weaponry. We demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of T. Banson, Soskid, Ayewo, and Jide Jooda, along with their political sponsors, including Senator Lere Oyewumi. Where political actors are complicit in murder and treasonable attacks on police officers, the law must act without fear or favor.

We commiserate with the families of those killed in Ikire today. We call on all APC members and residents of Osun State to remain calm, avoid reprisal actions, and allow security agencies to perform their duties. Osun State belongs to all its citizens, and street intimidation will never replace the rule of law.

God bless Osun!

God bless Nigeria!!