Osun LG crisis: Police confirm six deaths, ex-council boss buried

• APC directs chairmen to stay off councils

• Elder statesman Ogundokun, calls for peace

From Lateef Dada, Osogbo

The Police Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Yemisi Opalola, has confirmed the death of six persons in the political crisis that engulfed the state over control of local governments.

Opalola, who said many people were hospitalised after the clash, confirmed that the Inspector General of Police has deployed mobile policemen to the state.

She expressed sympathy to those who lost their lives and properties, warning that the police would resist any recurrence of violence in the state.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed the chairmen and their councillors to stay off their respective council secretariats as a sign of respect for the death of Hon. Remi Abass, the Chairman of Irewole Local Government Council Area of the state, who was killed during the crisis.

The state chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, on Tuesday, stated that the untimely and sudden killing of the peace-loving and consummate politician was inhuman, wicked, and callous.

He commended all the council chairmen for acting in accordance with the Court of Appeal judgement that secured victory for them and enjoined the police to extend their dragnet with a view to arresting, investigating, and prosecuting the killers of the serving local government council chairman and their sponsors, who could not have come from the moon.

Lawal also sympathised with the immediate family members, political associates, and all the progressive-loving people of Ikire over the gruesome murder of Abass, as he promised that the leadership of the party would do all necessary things to ensure that the chairman of Irewole Local Government Council Area did not die in vain.

Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), High Chief Abiola Ogundokun, has condemned the violence that erupted between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State over the struggle to take control of local governments after the judgment of the Appeal Court.

The elder statesman, in a statement on Tuesday, appealed to the parties to embrace peace and shun violence in the interest of the people of Osun State.

He described the violence as needless, saying that the killings and destruction of properties were not worth it.

He warned the gladiators to stop demonstrating bitterness against one another but to show genuine commitment to the peace and progress of the state.

“This is not the time for anybody or group to start apportioning blame or passing the buck. Everyone should allow peace to reign; enough of violent statements and attacks against one another. It is dangerous for the state to be turned into a theatre of war.”