Motor park takeover bid leaves two dead in Osun
August 25, 2026 12:11 am
File photo: Osun State Map
Two people were feared killed in Ikire, Osun State, on Monday following an alleged attempt to take over a motor park at Naira and Kobo Junction in the town.
One of the videos of the incident obtained by PUNCH Metro showed a man sitting in a vehicle and appearing to be dead, with an open wound on his head.
In another picture, a man was seen lying face down in a pool of blood.
Sources who spoke to PUNCH Metro on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the incident said drivers allegedly loyal to a political party had been in control of the park until some drivers who were said to be members of another political party arrived at about 10:30 am and allegedly attempted to take over the park.
An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, said during a telephone interview, “A political thug said to be working for the All Progressives Congress and his team were at the motor park in Ikire around Naira and Kobo area in Ikire when some political thugs from Accord stormed the area around 10:30 am to take over the place.
“During the melee, a new Toyota Hilux donated to Ikire Divisional Police Station was damaged. The windscreen was smashed and the tyres damaged.”
Another resident of Ikire, who spoke on the incident during a telephone chat, told our correspondent that “the Accord Party members were trying to take over the park from those of the APC extraction, and during the mayhem, an Accord member was shot.
“After the killing, the Accord members went to the palace of Akire of Ikire to report that the divisional police officer was involved in the mayhem.
“During the meeting at the palace, police claimed that the Accord members abducted the secretary of the Palm Oil Sellers Association in Ikire, and it was while chasing the kidnappers that an exchange of fire occurred and, in the process, a stray bullet hit one person.”
The Osun State chapter of the APC has accused the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke of aiding suspected hoodlums responsible for violent attacks that occurred in Ikire on Monday.
APC alleged five lives were lost, adding that several police personnel were also assaulted.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo on the incident on Monday, the chairman, Osun APC Media Cluster, Oluwafunsho Fagbohungbe, stated that the crisis began when suspected hoodlums allegedly working for the Accord Party launched a violent assault to forcefully hijack a motor park.
Fagbohungbe said three commercial drivers and two passersby were killed in the melee.
But the Osun Accord Party chairman, Victor Akande, while condemning the incident in a statement on Monday, alleged that a police officer orchestrated the mayhem.
Akande said there was no crisis or conflict at the park at the time the officer allegedly fired shots, accusing him of acting unprofessionally without provocation.
The chairman, however, insisted that the killings were part of a state-backed political terror orchestrated by thugs working for the Accord Party.
“As we speak, Ikire has been turned into a theatre of bloodshed by armed thugs openly aligned with the Accord Party and operating under the political umbrella of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration.
“Earlier today at Naira and Kobo Junction in Ikire, these sponsored gangsters launched a violent assault to forcefully hijack local transport hubs. In the process, innocent commuters, a commercial driver, and passing travellers lost their lives in cold blood, creating widespread terror and bringing economic activities in the town to a chaotic halt.
“This was not a mere street brawl. It was a calculated, armed attack on public safety and constitutional authority. When the Divisional Police Officer of the Irewole Police Division responded to a distress call after an APC member was abducted and taken to a motor park for torture, these hoodlums turned their weapons on law enforcement. Officers were assaulted,” Fagbohungbe stated.
The APC called on the Inspector General of Police, the AIG Zone 11, and the Osun Commissioner of Police to immediately deploy maximum force to reclaim Ikire, secure all local government secretariats, and recover all stolen police weaponry.
Reacting further to the allegations, the Accord chairman alleged that the latest incident was part of a pattern of conduct in Irewole Local Government which started during the pre-election period.
Akande noted that despite widespread violence in Ikire before the polls, the DPO consistently failed to make a single arrest of known perpetrators and openly harboured partisan thugs.
“Eyewitness accounts confirm that the officer personally stormed the public garage and opened fire sporadically into a crowd of unarmed civilians.
“There was no crisis or conflict at the said park. There was no takeover bid by any group. The normal park operation was ongoing when the DPO launched the attacks,” the Accord chairman said.
Calling on the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, the Osun State Police Command, and the Police Service Commission to “take immediate action by ordering the prompt arrest, psychological evaluation, dismissal, and criminal prosecution of the officer,” Akande said Accord would continue to sue for peaceful coexistence in the state.
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