Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun on Thursday said what appears like a genocide is gradually unfolding in his state as the August 15 governorship election draws closer.
Adeleke said the wave of violence allegedly unleashed on Osun by the All Progressive Congress is unprecedented adding that ordinarily, he was not supposed to attend the peace meeting having been ignored in all his efforts to ensure peace reigns in the state.
Adeleke said the last three months have witnessed loss of eight party members with more than 20 injured in gun attacks.
“There is no single prosecution or active arrest till date. The perpetrators are known Osun APC thugs with crimes committed in the presence of the police.
“Video evidence is everywhere on the internet. Presently, more than 60 Accord members are in police detention without being charged to court.
“The SSG to the State Government was arrested on trumped up charges and was detained overnight after his house was raided without any court authorized search warrant. Top government officials are being harassed and intimidated. More than 60 Accord leaders have been arrested and moved to Abuja, and remanded in Abuja prisons and Nassarawa State prisons, including an Accord candidate for House of Representatives, Hon Alaba.
“This is supposed to be a democracy, where the police uphold the rule of law. Under which law can a state police commissioner take instructions from Mr Gboyega Oyetola to arrest Accord Party members in Osun State and move them to Abuja and be held in prisons without any charge?
NPO Reports that a peace accord meeting was held in Osogbo, the state capital on Thursday under the supervision of the National Peace Committee, led by Cardinal John Onaiyekan.
Onaiyekan reminded political parties that the accord must not be treated as a mere ceremonial exercise.
“This signing of accord is not just a formality, a ritual. It is supposed to mean something serious, that we take this matter seriously,” the cleric said.
The National Peace Committee delegation at the event included retired Gen. Martins Agwai, representing the Committee’s Chairman, former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar; Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto; Cardinal John Onaiyekan; Attah Barkindo; INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan (SAN); and Assistant Inspector-General of Police Olabode Fasuba, representing the Inspector-General of Police.
At the ceremony were Governor Adeleke of the Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
While speaking, the Chairman of INEC, Joash Amupitan declared that the Peace Accord was far more than a ceremonial event, warning that elections could be compromised long before voting day if political leaders encouraged violence, intimidation or electoral manipulation.