Panic in Osun as Tribunal verdict paralyses businesses, elicits chaos
Osun state. Photo/FACEBOOK/GBOYEGAOYETOLA
Thousands of commuters were stranded, and chaos broke out in Osun State, yesterday, as the protest, which erupted in the state following the verdict of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal reignited.
The tribunal, last Friday declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, as the winner of the July 16 poll.
In many parts of the state, business centres and shops were under lock and key, while major roads were blocked with several residents, including persons suspected to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), burning tyres in Ede, Ilesa, Iwo, Ile-Ife, Ila-Orangun, Ileogbo, and in Osogbo, the state capital.
There were pockets of reported attacks in Igbona and Ayetoro areas of Osogbo, on Friday night, while the attacks and violent demonstrations were allegedly staged by aggrieved persons.
Security teams deployed to restore order in troubled areas also shot sporadically into the air to scare troublemakers as the crisis resumed yesterday. Some roads were blocked while sounds of gunshots were heard in the Ayetoro area of Osogbo.
At Oja-Oba area, some hoodlums sent motorists back and disallowed shop owners and traders from operating, while pockets of protests were recorded in Ilesa, Iwo, Ede, and other towns as some residents and supporters of PDP said they were in solidarity with Governor Adeleke.
They called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the international community to step in and ensure that such a judgment did not stand.
“This type of judgment is dangerous to our democracy. It means that our votes will not count and justice cannot be served. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the United Nations, and other members of the international community to step in. Such a judgment must not stand,” one of the protesters said. Some residents of Iwo and loyalists of Governor Oyetola held a demonstration in celebration of the tribunal’s victory.
Governor Adeleke, in a statewide address, on Friday, informed the people of the state that his counsels have filed an appeal against the tribunal’s judgment and that they had also written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intimating of the appeal, and seeking non-implementation of the judgment until the determination of the appeal.
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