Fresh war of words has broken out between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Imole Campaign Council over the death of a 14-year-old boy in Ilobu, Osun State, with both sides trading blames over the politicisation of the tragedy ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.
Recall that a teenager identified as Ezekiel Olapade was reportedly killed during a shooting incident on Sunday near the Irepodun Local Government Secretariat, Ilobu with another person also injured during the attack.
The incident has caused widespread concern in the state and heightened political tensions, with rival political parties trading accusations over the circumstances of the killing and the aftermath.
In a statement on Tuesday by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the APC faulted Governor Ademola Adeleke’s visit to the bereaved family, claiming that the occasion was turned into a political event.
“The governor should have just sympathized with the family and not make political statements that the party took as political,” Olabisi said.
He said, “Such an occasion was not meant for the strict mourning of the young lad and therefore it was inappropriate for Governor Adeleke to have turned it to a campaign ground. It could be likened to the state chief executive doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and wrong place.”
The opposition party also said it was wrong to lay blame for the killing before police investigations were completed.
It didn’t add up and it was unexpected of a worthy chief executive to have bypassed the police in their investigation when he named the opposition party as being responsible for the killing, Olabisi stated.
The APC said the governor was contradicting himself by reportedly calling for police investigation and also giving his view on who was responsible for the attack.
The Imole Campaign Council, on the other hand, dismissed the APC’s allegations and accused the opposition party of trying to take advantage of the teenager’s death for political gain.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the council expressed worry over what it called a rise in political violence in Osun State and called on all political actors to exercise restraint.
Olajengbesi said the loss of innocent lives should bring stakeholders together in the pursuit of peace, not deepen political divisions.
“The recent surge of political violence in Osun is a threat to all of us. There is no place for the loss of innocent lives in a civil society. “Democracy cannot thrive where people live in fear,” he said.
The council also called on security agencies, including the Inspector-General of Police, to ensure that all residents are given equal protection irrespective of political affiliation and cautioned against selective enforcement of the law.
Olajengbesi said electoral contests should be decided by the will of the people and the democratic process, adding, “Democracy is about persuasion, not coercion.
Political parties should compete with ideas, policies and performance, not conduct that threatens the peace and safety of the public.”
The controversy erupted after the late man’s father, Gbenga Olapade, said his son was shot while trying to help his mother during the chaos.
He also said armed men fired around a palm wine bar owned by his wife and the late teenager’s mother and that security guards at the scene did not intervene as the attackers arrived.
