One killed in Osun, APC, PDP trade blames over violence

A man, Ebenezer Alaro, said to be a member of the All Progressives Congress in Ilesa town, Osun State, has been killed by some yet-to-be identified assailants.

A statement by the press secretary to the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Kunle Alabi, obtained in Osogbo on Saturday, confirmed the incident.

Alabi, who said the Speaker, Timothy Owoeye, was saddened by the development, condemned the killing of Alaro, which according to him took place at about 1pm on Friday in front of his father’s house on Aromire Street, Ilesa.

“It is quite unfortunate that one of our devoted party members was murdered after our rally on Friday. Politics shouldn’t be a do-or-die affair. The young man who was actively involved in the rally was shot in front of his father’s house.

“The police and other relevant security agencies must be seen to be alive to their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives of citizens. A quick investigation into the murder will serve as deterrent to people who are hell bent on distrusting the peace of our society.

“It is my believe that the state Commissioner of Police will live up to his responsibility of not allowing the state to slide into anarchy by urgently seeing to it that culprits in the said murder are brought to book.

“I want to appeal to our people to allow peace and hope that the police will in no distant time, resolve the case of Alaro’s killing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Osun State chapters of the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, have continued to trade accusations over rising incidents of violence across the state.

The APC in a statement by its acting chairman, Mr. Tajudeen Lawal, alleged that suspected political hoodlums working for the PDP killed Alaro, adding that the hoodlums that perpetrated the act were led by one man identified as ‘Bongo.’

The party also alleged that a shop belonging to the APC Women Leader in Ward 9, Irojo, Ilesa East Local Government Council Area, popularly known as ‘Iya Ruka’, was destroyed by suspected PDP thugs.

“It was also observed that all the billboards, from Osunjela to Ilesa, of the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and other APC candidates, were also destroyed by the rampaging thugs.

“I sympathise with the leaders and members of our party in Ilesa over the killing of one of them during the onslaught on the members of our party yesterday in Ilesa. The police should do their work and get to the root of the killing of our member.”

But in another statement, the PDP acting chairman in the state, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, accused an APC leader in Osogbo of unleashing hoodlums on the residents.

Adekunle accused the APC chieftain of masterminding attacks on members of the PDP and other residents of Ward 14, Oke baale community in Osogbo, leaving many casualties with varying degrees of injuries and gunshot wounds.

Describing the incident as one attack too many, allegedly by the said APC chieftain, Adekunle insisted that no amount of violence could stop the PDP from winning the Central Senatorial District.

“We are tired of these incessant attacks on the members of the public. Election is not a do or die affair and to attempt to represent the people against their wish is not only undemocratic, but also a prelude to a state of anarchy,” the Osun PDP chairman concluded.