Some families and loved ones of the victims of Tuesday’s killings in Akinlalu, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State, have begun to narrate harrowing accounts of how their relatives were shot dead by operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Amotekun.
No fewer than five persons were reportedly killed, while several others who sustained injuries are currently receiving treatment in hospitals across the state.
The security outfit is headed by retired police officer, Adekunle Omoyele, a controversial former Chief Security Officer to Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Following the recent recruitment of Amotekun, CSP Adekunle (retd.) has faced accusations of deploying alleged political thugs into the outfit to intimidate and suppress opposition members in the state.
Amotekun in Osun had previously come under fire for allegedly running dingy and illegal underground detention cells.
It would be recalled that Adekunle was earlier indicted by the Osun State EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry for alleged extra-judicial killings, with the panel recommending his demotion in rank and subsequent prosecution.
Meanwhile in a press release by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, titled “Akinlalu tragedy: APC Faults Adeleke’s Silence”, the opposition party in the state demanded the probe and overhaul of Amotekun after the killings in Ife-North.
“The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the lukewarm and uninspiring approach of Governor Ademola Adeleke to the massacre of innocent natives of Akinlalu in the Ife-North Local Government Council Area of the state by the Amotekun corps, stating that the extra-judicial killings should be probed by the Office of the National Security Adviser, Inspector -General of Police and the Department of State Security (DSS).”
“How could it take the state government five clear days to plan a physical visit to a part of the state, that is just an hour’s drive to the seat of government, where state agents in uniforms have been accused of shooting to death citizens no fewer than ten in number?
“It is disappointing to note that Governor Adeleke only reacted, with a poorly written press statement though, to the gory incident at Akinlalu days after he was called out by our party and prominent citizens.
“The initial deafening silence of the governor was wicked, concerning and crassly irresponsible. It is now more concerning that the government has no plan to visit the mourning community until after a nebulous meeting on Monday.
“What might have been responsible for the phobia of Governor Adeleke to immediately visit the scene where his agents of oppression and violence in the garb of Amotekun corps have needlessly thrown the Akinlalu community into a grieving centre?
“We, as a party, are registering our dissatisfaction towards the extra-judicial killings of the innocent persons in Akinlalu for whatever reason and are calling for proper and meticulous handling of the incident by the statutory security services,” the statement by Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the Osun State APC Director of Media and Publicity read.
“Our party now seems to have been vindicated given the fact that we registered our protest against the appointment of a controversial former Chief Security Officer of Governor Adeleke, Mr Adekunle Omoyele, as head of the Amotekun Corps as well as the mass recruitment of political hoodlums into the supposed peace-keeping para-military security service.
“Therefore, for the people to regain confidence in the outfit, there is an urgent need for a drastic reformation of the para-military force for it to operate with verifiable civility as it is the case in the other states in the South-West geo-political zone of the nation, and this should start with sacking of the heavily indicted head and prosecution of the Amotekun operatives responsible for the pogrom in Akinlalu some days ago.”