• Desperate politicians are shielding criminals to fuel pre-election crisis, says CSO
• Adeleke unveils intercity road project, says performance shocks critics

The Osun State Police Command, yesterday, said that three suspects had been arrested over an alleged attempt to assassinate the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council, Wole Oke.

The suspects, namely Olamilekan Oriyomi (24), Ayotunde Ikupolati Ojo (44) and Fakinleye Femi (31), were said to have attempted to kill Oke during his visit to Ipetu-Ijesa community in Oriade Local Council of Osun State.

The state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Ibrahim Gotan, while speaking at a media briefing in Osogbo, the state capital, said the arrest of the suspects was part of the Command’s sustained operational efforts aimed at tackling cultism, political thuggery and other violent crimes that threaten the peace and stability of the state.

Gotan further disclosed that the suspects, led by Oriyomi, made an attempt to kill Oke, who is the current lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, after paying a courtesy visit to the Ajalaye of Ipetu-Ijesa, Oba Agunbiade Oke.

Besides, he said that through intelligence-led operations and sustained efforts by the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), Ojo and Fakinleye were arrested on July 1, 2026, in Ipetu-Ijesa.

Gotan said Oriyomi confessed that he got a gun from Busuyi Akinwole Ikupolati, a.k.a ‘Omo-Akin,’ who is at large, adding that the suspect had already made a statement implicating some influential figures who are under the Command’s searchlight.

Meanwhile, amid growing anxiety and fear ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship polls in Osun State, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) identified as Dialogue 365 Nigeria has said that desperate politicians are those who shield criminals to fuel pre-election violence in the state.

In a statement, the Convener of Dialogue 365, Nigeria, Waheed Saka, said that the shielding of thugs and hoodlums by some desperate politicians across party lines had been a generic crisis during the electioneering season in Osun State.

Saka, while chiding political actors and candidates for failing to market their manifestos and blueprints regarding their developmental agenda to the electorate, tasked security agencies to intensify efforts in the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of violence and their sponsors.

However, Adeleke, yesterday, commissioned 33 kilometres of Ejigbo-Iwo Intercity Road, which spanned seven communities, including Ejigbo, Ilawo, Iwata, Ijimoba, Alagba, Iwo-Oke, Ibarapa, Amere and Iwo township.

Adeleke, while speaking during the commissioning of the road projects, said that despite negative predictions when he assumed office in 2022, his performance in critical sectors had refuted them.