Press Statement:Our attention has been drawn to deliberate and criminal misinformation being spread by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s administration to change the narrative on the attack on the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola today in Osogbo.
We note the deliberate falsehood being peddled by agents of darkness who have consistently been using the state power to terrorise members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are not in the same camp with Governor Oyetola for some time now.
It is callous and unfortunate that the Minister is being harassed with a view to shutting him out of the state with the governorship primaries in view.
Aregbesola’s convoy was attacked by some armed political thugs at Orisunmibare, Osogbo while coming from Ilesa around 5:30pm today.
According to report, the gun-wielding political hoodlums waylaid his convoy and started shooting sporadically on sighting the Minister standing on his open roof vehicle and waiving at a mammoth crowd who were hailing and jubilating at seeing their former governor.
Jubilant residents who were following Aregbesola scampered for safety to escape being hit by stray bullet.
A team of combined security operatives from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service and Department of State Security, who were among Aregbesola’s convoy, stepped down from the vehicles and started shooting in a bid to scare away the armed thugs.
For about twenty minutes, Old Garage Area was thrown into panic as traders and road users ran helter-skelter as a result of resounding gunshots from the thugs and security operatives.
May we note that the hoodlums were led by Oyetola’s head of political thugs, Asiri Eniba, apparently at the behest of his sponsor.
Consistently, the Oyetola government had been on the game of attacking members of The Osun Progressives (TOP), which has the backing of the Minister.
It is unfortunate that the Oyetola government who had always wanted to tarnish the good name of the Minister quickly put up a report, deceiving many that the Minister “invaded” Osogbo and sent it to the unsuspecting media for use.
It will interest members of the public to as a matter of fact, note that Aregbesola had entered town from Ilesa Garage and, as usually demanded by the people on the street, came on the open roof of the car, passing through Itaolokan, Ojaba, Station road and Orisunmbare with mammoth crowd swarming on his convoy and without any incident until the convoy was attacked at old garage where the Asiri Eniba gang attacked the convoy.
It is important note that the stretch of the Minister’s trip which had been peaceful was about 10km without any incident until around old garage area which is the base of the chief thug.
Safe for the mischief of the Oyetola’s government to unjustly run the Minister out of town, simply because of their mortal fear of his popularity, no person has been wounded in any of the Minister’s outings.
May we ask the mischief-maker-government to produce the dead bodies of the people claimed to have died today in Osogbo. The Oyetola’s administration should burry its head in shame.
It is only a cowardly and irresponsible government that will be scaring away the people it is ruling for whatever reason.
It is a shame for the Oyetola-led-administration that Osun, which was adjudged as the third most-safest state in Nigeria before Oyetola became governor is now a state where political violence and insecurity now thrive.
Today’s attempt on the Minister’s life is a confirmation that Osun is no longer a safe state. We can only pray that the Almighty would keep the good people of Osun state and her well-wishers safe.
E-signed
Comrade Abiodun Agboola
Publicity Secretary
Osun APC
