…PDP, APC trade words over killings
…NASS caucus urge Tinubu’s intervention
From Richard Akintade, Osogbo and Paul Effiong, Abuja
Immediate past Chairman, Irewole Local Government Area, Osun State and the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chieftain, Honourable Remi Abass, was yesterday killed by unknown gunmen as the ongoing local government crisis took a deadly turn.
Abass, was killed yesterday in the premises of Irewole Local Government amid the ongoing local government crisis.
Our Correspondent gathered that, the attackers stormed the council secretariat in broad daylight, shooting sporadically.
According to eyewitness “it was sudden and chaotic as people were seen scampering for safety,
The Osun State Police Command confirmed the incident and stated that investigations had begun immediately.
“We are working to apprehend the perpetrators and restore calm in the affected area”, said the Police.
Recall that Hon Remi Abass was among the local government chairmen sacked by the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo in November 2022.
In the same vein, two persons have also been confirmed dead in Boripe Local Government Area of the state over the fracas that erupted when some hoodlums allegedly working for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC attempted to take over the council.
The victims, whose names were given as Ege and Igara, according to eyewitness, were shot dead by hoodlums.
It was gathered that Ege, who decamped from the APC to the PDP recently, was the only son of his parents, with his father also said to be a member of the PDP.
One other person whose name was given as Yinka, a photographer, was also shot and in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital, AljazirahNigeria Correspondent reliably gathered.
The situation has caused panic in the affected area as residents reportedly scamper for their safety.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC .in Osun State yesterday traded words over the killing of three persons.
Members of both parties were locked in battle for the control of some local government Secretariat.
There had been tension across the state over the Court of Appeal judgment in respect of the sacked APC council chairmen and councillors.
While the PDP claimed that the Feb. 10 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Akure, did not reinstate the sacked APC chairmen and councillors elected in 2022, APC insisted on their return.
Speaking with journalists in Iragbiji, Mr Korede Ajeigbe, the Commissioner for Government Affairs and Protocol, claimed that two PDP members were killed while trying to prevent APC members from taking over a secretariat.
Ajeigbe, also said that six PDP members were seriously injured and were currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
APC, however, alleged that PDP members attacked its members while trying to enforce the Court of Appeal judgment.
Addressing a news conference in Osogbo, Mr Bayo Adeleke, a chieftain of the APC, claimed that one of the party’s prominent members was killed during the crisis.
He also alleged that another member of the party, Remi Omowaye, escaped an assassination attempt in Ilesa.
Adeleke, a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftain Affairs, urged the state government to allow peace to reign by allowing the APC chairmen and councillors to return to office.
Another chieftain of the party, Mr Jamiu Olawumi, claimed that APC chairmen had resumed in 15 local governments of the state.
This claim, however, could not be immediately verified.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ademola Adeleke has directed workers as well as politicians to stay away from local government secretariats to avoid further bloodshed.
Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said only security agents would be allowed to keep watch at the secretariats.
He condoled with families of victims of the crisis.
Following the crisis Osun State Caucus in the National Assembly has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently prevail on the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, to retrieve his actions over allege illegality against members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state.
Chairman of the caucus in the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Salami made the appeal in a press briefing at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, yesterday.
He disclosed that his caucus which comprises 3 Senators and nine members from the House of Representatives are worried over the recent political development in Osun, alleging that the whole drama is perpetrated by the , APC leadership in the state.
AljazirahNigeria gathered that the Osun State government and the APC had differed opinions over the Appeal Court judgement on the sacking of local government executives in the state.
The lawmaker expressed shock over unfolding political event even as he alleged that scores of his party members and loyalists have been killed by the APC thugs.
The caucus alleged that Oyetola, was currently conniving with the police, Department of State Services, DSS, among other security personnel, to take over all the local government Secretariat in the state.
Salami, described the development as a clear invitation to anarchy, even as he alleged that the move is being orchestrated by the former Governor and current minister of Marine and Blue Economy, despite subsisting court judgement which has affirmed the removal of APC-backed Local government officials.
The lawmaker, who is representing Ede North/Ede South/Ejigbo/Egbedore federal constituency of Osun State, also condemned the “brazen effrontery of the sacked local government council officials to return to office not withstanding the existing Court of Appeal judgement in Akure, against their return to the office.”
Some of the affected councils that witnessed clashes between APC and PDP according to the lawmaker are Ayedaade, Boripe, Osogbo, Olorunda, Ila, Isokan, Irewole, Obokun, and Atakumosa local government areas of the state.
It would be recalled that the elected LG officials were sacked by a decision of Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of an Osogbo Federal High Court on November 25, 2022.
