- Safiu Kehinde
The Osun state Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has accused the Accord Party of the murder of one Dele Ayegbo, a nephew of the party’s governorship campaign Director-General, Wole Oke.
Ayegbo was reportedly shot dead on Wednesday night by suspected members of the Accord Party in Esa-Oke, Obokun Local Government Area of the state.
This was made known in a statement issued on Thursday by the Osun APC spokesperson, Kola Olabisi.
In what he described as a sustained campaign of political violence targeted at its members across the state, Olabisi condemned the murder as he urged security agencies to immediately investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.
According to Olabisi, Ayegbo was attacked and killed on Wednesday night at a road junction near his residence in the Idofin area of Esa-Oke.
“The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the killing of the party’s governorship campaign Director-General, Wole Oke’s nephew, Dele Ayegbo, in Esa-Oke, Obokun Local Government Council Area of the state on Wednesday night by the hit squad of the Accord Party who have been terrorising the members and supporters of the opposition APC across the state,
“Information has it that Ayegbo was gunned down at the road junction close to his house at the Idofin quarters area of the ancient town by the Accord Party hoodlums who were riding in a car.” The APC spokesperson wrote.
He further alleged that another party member sustained gunshot injuries during the attack and is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the town.
Describing the incident as “one death too many,” Olabisi called on the Nigeria Police Force to carry out a thorough investigation into the killing.
“The killing of the nephew of our campaign Director-General in Esa-Oke is one death too many which must be urgently unraveled by the police in the interest of fairness and justice,” he said.
Olabisi decried the spate of killing in the state which he alleged to be largely targeted against its members had intensified in the state.
He claimed that more than 30 of its supporters had been killed by political thugs.
The APC spokesperson held that Ijesaland had recorded the highest number of such killings, alleging that 17 of the over 30 APC members killed since 2022 were from the area.
Olabisi accused the Osun State Government of failing to publicly condemn attacks on APC members.
“A common observation has been that whenever our members were killed, the self-acclaimed chief security officer of the state would not condemn the killing which gives credence to his approval of the rampant extra-judicial killings of our members and supporters in the state,” he alleged.
The APC spokesperson urged the police to take decisive action before Saturday’s governorship poll, alleging that the attacks were intended to intimidate the party’s supporters and suppress voter turnout.
“The purpose is to scare away our members and supporters from exercising their civic responsibility on Saturday,” he said.