OSUN COMMISSIONER RELEASED AFTER 24HRS DETENTION
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The commissioner for the environment in Osun State, Mayowa Adejoorin, has been released from police custody after spending nearly 24 hours in detention.
Adejoorin was arrested in Ilesa on Saturday following a shooting in the Isokun area of the town, which resulted in three people being injured.
According to the PRESS, at least three individuals were hurt during a shooting in Ilesa, Osun State, on Saturday.
The incident occurred during a street rally organized by the Ilesa West Local Government Area chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
One of the injured individuals is a 14-year–old boy named Tobi Ilesanmi, who was reportedly shot near the scene of the event in the Isokun area of Ilesa.
The incident, however, has led to a blame game between the APC and the Accord Party, following the arrest of the Osun State Commissioner for Environment, Mayowa Adejoorin, who was said to be passing through Ilesa after the crisis.
Adejoorin was reportedly arrested by the police and brought to the headquarters of the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force in Osogbo, the state capital.
Speaking on the incident in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Saturday, the Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, stated that three people were injured during the shooting, alleging that the incident was perpetrated by operatives of the Amotekun Corps who were conveyed in a vehicle bearing an official Osun State Government number plate.
“Three persons are confirmed injured, and they were taken to different hospitals. From the reports we have, they were shot at the rally scene. There was a rally in some part of Ilesa by the APC.
“The rally was on when they discovered a vehicle parked beside them bearing a particular plate number, OSHAO4, and some people identified as Amotekun personnel came out of the car and shot sporadically, and everybody ran for safety.
“So some brave men among those that were doing the rally chased those Amotekun personnel passengers. The one they were able to catch drew out a knife and tried to stab anyone who came close to him, and he used that opportunity to escape,” he said.
He added that after the matter was reported to the police, some operatives of the Intelligence Response Team stationed close to the scene responded to the distress call.
Ojelabi further explained that the IRT operatives, on their way to the scene of the incident, saw Adejoorin’s vehicle passing and stopped him.
“We already have our tactical teams on the ground. We have over four IRT tactical teams on the ground posted to different locations. So the IRT that was closer to that place responded to that incident. On getting to the scene, they saw a vehicle that was approaching them, a white Lexus 350.
“On intercepting the vehicle, they saw an Amotekun personnel in the vehicle. So they apprehended the vehicle, the personnel and one other person in the vehicle. They brought them straight to the headquarters here. On interrogation, it was discovered that the other occupant is Honourable Mayowa Adejoorin.
“So they brought them to Osogbo for questioning to know the level of involvement in this incident because the exhibits recovered at the scene of that shooting are four expended cartridges, and the gun recovered from the Amotekun is a pump-action gun. So the investigation is ongoing,” Ojelabi said.
But while addressing journalists on the incident, the Head of the APC Campaign Council for Ilesa West, Folarin Fafowora, explained that the rally was about to be concluded when the incident occurred.
Fafowora said, “We were almost rounding up when, suddenly, a car overtook us. The occupant of the car was the Chief Whip of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Wale Akerele. I was even surprised that people were embracing him, but before I could know what was happening, there was a gunshot. To my disbelief, people started running here and there. I couldn’t believe it.
“Then he left, and people immediately started scrambling for safety. As we got to the roundabout around the Isokun area, the panic and confusion among the people had really disrupted the rally.
“From nowhere, they suddenly came out of the vehicle and started shooting. In fact, I had to hide to avoid being hit. By the time I regained my consciousness, hell had already been let loose. But somehow, because of the Amotekun vehicles that were escorting him, he disappeared almost immediately. It was very shocking. The policemen were there when he came back, while they were shooting. He was being protected by the Amotekun personnel, and they were also shooting.”
Efforts to reach Akerele by our correspondent failed, as calls did not go through to his line, while a response to a message sent to him via WhatsApp was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
However, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, while reacting to the allegations against Akerele in a chat with journalists on Saturday, said, “The video of Ilesa shooting is all over the place. Members of the APC were shooting in the name of the rally, destroying properties that belong to the Accord members. They destroyed the Accord Party secretariat, and the videos are all over the place.”
Giving an update to the press on the arrest on Sunday, the Public Relations Officer of the Osun Police Command, Ojelabi, confirmed the release of Adejoorin.
Ojelabi could not, however, confirm if the Amotekun operative arrested with Adejoorin had been released.
When asked if Adejoorin had been released, Ojelabi simply said, “The commissioner has been released. He was released today but the Amotekun that was arrested with him, I can’t confirm his release yet because I am still gathering my facts.”
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