• Accord Party to boycott Osun CP’s meeting over killings, violence
• CSOs protest rising political violence in state

Troubled by growing cases of violence and alleged politically motivated killings in Osun, the Imole Campaign Council (TICC) in charge of the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke, yesterday, urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, to order the arrest of the killers of a 14-year-old boy identified as Ezekiel Olapade.
 
Ezekiel was reportedly shot dead on Sunday in Ilobu Community of Irepodun Local Council Area of Osun State when suspected political thugs shot sporadically around the council secretariat.
 
He was said to have been killed while attempting to rescue his mother, who fell into a ditch during the stampede caused by the shooting incident.
 
However, while addressing a press briefing in Osogbo, the Director-General of TICC, Senator Lere Oyewumi, who condemned the killing, called for urgent measures to check the upsurge in cases of coordinated attacks by hoodlums ahead of the August 15 governorship poll in Osun.

Meanwhile, Osun State chapter of the Accord Party (AP), yesterday, advanced reasons why it would not honour an invitation to a meeting by the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Ibrahim Gotan, over the recent killings and violence rocking parts of the state.
 
The party, in a statement by its chairman, Pastor Victor Akande, attributed its decision to boycott the meeting to the alleged partisanship and complicity of the police boss over the spate of killings and brigandage in Osun State, which were targeted at its members.
 
Reacting to the invitation, Akande argued that it came at a time the police command had refused to address several criminal assaults on AP members, calling the proposed meeting “an attempt for a photo opportunity on the pains and injuries of Accord members.”
 
The statement reads: “Our members suffered repeatedly due to negligence, criminal collusion and unwillingness of law enforcement by the police command. We lost our youth leader at Ikire. Up till now, no single arrest has been made.
 
“Our billboards were openly destroyed by APC thugs. The police command is yet to make any arrest. The Osun APC, in broad daylight, attacked several Accord members, shooting sporadically across the state capital and Ede. Seven people, mostly Accord sympathisers, were seriously injured.
 
“Daily, All Progressives Congress (APC) thugs parade Osun towns with arms and fire sporadically to scare residents. It is alarming that despite knowing these thugs and their abode, the police fail to arrest or stop their nefarious activities.”

However, a coalition of civil society organisations, yesterday, protested in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, against a surge in politically motivated violence, tasking the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, to equip security agencies in the state.
 
The protesters expressed concerns over the call for the removal of the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, saying his redeployment is not a solution to the security challenges.
 
Armed with banners and placards bearing different inscriptions, the demonstrators, who had convened at Freedom Park in Osogbo, marched through Old Garage to Olaiya, Oke-Fia, before terminating at the point of convergence.
 
Speaking during the protest held in Osogbo, the Executive Director of the World Institute for Peace, Lamina Omotoyosi, said the demonstration was aimed at demanding improved security and urging the state government to allow the police leadership to focus on its constitutional responsibilities.
 
According to him, allegations of partisanship levelled against Gotan were politically motivated, insisting that the CP had demonstrated commitment to combating insecurity and criminal activities in the state.