OPEN LETTER TO OSUN STATE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
By: Sodiq Lawal Chocomilo
Dear CP Ibrahim Gotan,
I write to you, the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, with grave concern. When life sinks low and people in positions of power do not act in accordance with their roles, it hands some of us a burden and a gift — the responsibility to speak truth to power, boldly. In countries like Nigeria, courage means accepting the consequences. CP Gotan, it is time to go.
It is clear that the calculations of political thugs across parties and the influence of their sponsors have overwhelmed your command’s capacity to maintain law and order in the state.
This reality is reflected in the increasing spate of political killings and the brazen public display of firearms by non-state actors who now operate with impunity, undermining the authority of the Nigeria Police Force
On behalf of grieving families, I extend my deepest condolences to you. We mourn young men in their early to mid-twenties whose only offense was wearing caps or vests bearing political party logos or candidate slogans — symbols that have become death sentences in the hands of political thugs.
The family of a 31-year-old okada rider continues to live in fear and grief. After his motorcycle was destroyed in Iroye, Ilesa, he was badly butchered in the face. Now they watch the same men who attacked their son roam the streets in broad daylight. In Igbaye, an elderly man sitting in front of his home was killed during a clash between political thugs masquerading as cultists.
These are not isolated cases. They mirror the grief of every family in the state who has lost a loved one to political violence. Residents of Ilesa, Osogbo, Iwo, Ife, and other Osun towns now rush to markets at dawn and leave before dusk. Women especially fear being caught in violence from armed non-state actors who parade guns openly, fire shots into the air, and trigger clashes.
In Ilobu, political thugs murdered a 14-year-old boy in cold blood. In Osogbo, where your headquarters is located, victims shot by gunmen are still recovering from bullet wounds. In Ilesa, three young people in their mid-twenties were killed the same way.
I watched the video of the grieving father from Ilobu. It was heartbreaking and deeply disturbing. He is not alone. He mirrors every parent forced to bury a child killed for politics, crying as the killers walk free.
CP Gotan, you are a father, too. Can condolences heal the pain of parents who watch their children’s murderers roam the streets?
You did not kill these children. You did not hand weapons to political thugs. But you failed to protect them from being killed. You have also failed to bring their killers to justice. As Osun’s chief police officer, your sole mandate is to secure lives. In that duty, your performance has been woeful.
Political killings are rising in the state. Non-state actors display guns and ammunition openly, unchecked. This is dangerous and criminal. To me, it amounts to negligence and gross irresponsibility. It is alarming that Osun Police have not arrested anyone directly linked to these sad events.
CP Gotan, illegal arms, and ammunition are circulating openly in Osun State. From Osogbo to Ilesa, Ife, Iwo, and Ede, political thugs display guns in public. They are not ghosts. I do not know if their sponsors are untouchable. They lack your officers’ training, yet they keep outsmarting your men. Is it a failure of leadership? Perhaps your officers know it is a waste effort to pursue thugs whose sponsors are protected.
Political thugs kill in broad daylight. They wear party caps. They use campaign buses to attack, kill, and destroy. Under your watch, the state is stained with the blood of young people murdered in cold blood by thugs loyal to some politicians.
I want to disagree with claims that your command has been infiltrated and hijacked by powerful interests. But the truth is clear: the command you lead has lost its capacity to secure and protect innocent citizens.
Unfortunately, we live in a country where some people are stronger than institutions. The police are an instrument of the law. They are a social institution for lawful enforcement. Their one duty is to protect citizens from every aggressor. If this institution bends to political bandits who hijack its steering, chaos follows. The integrity of the police must be shielded from those who want to use it for personal gain.
Osun State is filled with desperate politicians who only want to win. In the last 20 years, over 12 high-profile political murders have remained unresolved. A weakling cannot police this state. Only a police chief who is strong and ready to confront sponsors of political killings and their foot soldiers can secure Osun. People will only breathe in peace when the guilty are held accountable and when political thugs are sent to prison or to their graves.
May history absolve me.