Police in Osun, on Sunday, released the state’s Commissioner for Environment, Mayowa Adejoorin, almost 24 hours after he was arrested and detained.
Police arrested Adejoorin in Ilesa on Saturday following a shooting incident in the Isokun area of the community, which left three people injured.
No fewer than three people were injured during a shooting incident in Ilesa, Osun State, on Saturday, when members of the Ilesa West Local Government Area chapter of the All Progressives Congress held a street rally.
One of those injured was identified as Tobi Ilesanmi, a 14-year-old boy, who was reportedly shot near the scene of the incident around the Isokun area of Ilesa.
But the incident 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.
Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, while speaking on the incident, stated that three people were injured during the shooting, alleging that the violence was perpetrated by operatives of the Amotekun Corps who were conveyed in a vehicle bearing an official Osun State Government number plate.
He said, “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.”
The PPRO 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 the Head of the APC Campaign Council for Ilesa West, Folarin Fafowora, told newsmen 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.”
As of the time of filing this report, Akerele had yet to react to the allegations leveled against him.
But the Imole Campaign Council spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, in his reaction 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.”
The police spokesman confirmed Adejoorin release on Sunday.
But he could not confirm if the Amotekun operative arrested with Adejoorin had been released.
