Ilobu Killing: Osun APC, Adeleke Campaign Council Trade Accusations

A fresh war of words has broken out between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Imole Campaign Council over the death of a 14-year-old boy in Ilobu, Osun State. The two sides have been trading blames over the politicisation of the tragedy ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.

It would be recalled that a teenager identified as Ezekiel Olapade was reportedly killed during a shooting incident on Sunday near the Irepodun Local Government Secretariat, Ilobu with another person also injured during the attack.

The incident has raised alarm across the state and added to political tensions, with rival political parties trading accusations over the circumstances of the killing and the subsequent fallout.

The APC, in a statement on Tuesday by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said the APC condemned Governor Ademola Adeleke’s visit to the bereaved family, alleging that the occasion was turned into a political event.

“The governor should have just mourned with the family and not made political comments that the party took as political,” Olabisi said.

He said, “Such an occasion was not meant for the strict mourning of the young lad, and therefore it was inappropriate for Governor Adeleke to have turned it to a campaign ground. It could be likened to the state chief executive doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and wrong place.”

The opposition party also questioned the governor’s comments on the incident, saying it was improper to attribute responsibility for the killing before the conclusion of police investigations.

It was not adding up and it was not expected of a good chief executive to bypass the police in their investigation, saying the opposition party was responsible for the killing, Olabisi said.

The APC said the governor was being contradictory by reportedly calling for police investigation and also giving his view on who was responsible for the attack.

The Imole Campaign Council, however, rejected the APC’s claims, describing it as an attempt by the opposition party to capitalise on the death of the young man for political reasons.

The council, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, lamented that the political violence in Osun State has been on the rise and called on all political actors to exercise restraint.

The loss of innocent lives should bring stakeholders together in the pursuit of peace and not deepen political divisions, Olajengbesi said.

“The recent upsurge of political violence in Osun is a danger to us all. A civil society has no room for the loss of innocent lives. “Democracy cannot prosper where people live in fear.” he said.

The council also urged security agencies, including the Inspector-General of Police, to ensure that all residents are given equal protection regardless of political affiliation and warned against selective enforcement of the law.

He said electoral contests should be decided by the will of the people and the democratic process. “Democracy is about persuasion, not coercion.

“Political parties must compete with ideas, policies and performance, not with conduct that endangers the peace and safety of the public.”

The controversy arose after the deceased’s father, Gbenga Olapade, alleged that his son was hit by a bullet while attempting to help his mother during the chaos.

He also claimed that armed men shot around a palm wine bar owned by his wife and the late teenager’s mother and that security guards at the scene did not intervene as the attackers arrived.