Slain Olalekan Oyeyemi, an Accord Party chieftain in Osun State
Osun State Police Command on Monday said it had recovered another corpse from the premises of the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, bringing to two the number of people killed in the shooting incident at the park.
This came as the remains of Olalekan Oyeyemi, a chieftain of the Accord Party in Osun State, popularly known as Emir Ajagungbade, were buried at his newly completed residence in the Agunbelewo area of Osogbo in accordance with traditional rites.
Emir was reportedly shot dead on Sunday during a clash involving him and a group led by another leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, identified by the nickname Sibi, at the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife.
A video circulating on social media showed Emir lying face down in a pool of blood inside a vehicle after the incident.
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, later confirmed Emir’s death in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, and directed the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Zungura, to identify and arrest those responsible.
Emir’s killing has, however, been linked to moves by some members of the transport union to install him as the next Osun State chairman of the NURTW.
Giving an update on the incident on Monday, the state police spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, told journalists that the motor park had been shut down following the incident.
He said, “The governor has decided that the park should not operate. The park has not been operating. A corpse was also recovered by the police, and it has been deposited at the morgue.
“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation. Those being mentioned in connection with the crime should go to the nearest police station to report themselves rather than going to social media to defend themselves.
“The Commissioner of Police has promised that all those involved will be apprehended and face the law, irrespective of who they are.”
Meanwhile, Emir’s burial rites, performed by traditionalists, were witnessed by close family members and priests.
His associates, who accompanied his remains from the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, were reportedly made to wait outside the premises while the traditional burial rites were performed.
Before the remains were released from the hospital morgue, suspected hoodlums, said to be associates of the deceased, allegedly attacked two hospital workers after discovering that they were recording the proceedings with their phones.
Punch Metro, which was at the hospital to monitor developments on Monday, later observed the arrival of additional police vehicles conveying operatives, which helped to restore normalcy.
Meanwhile, Osun State Commissioner for Transportation, Sesan Oyedele, has denied claims that he summoned NURTW leaders to his residence in Modakeke on Sunday and told them that the state government had endorsed Emir as the next chairman of the union.
Two NURTW leaders in Ile-Ife, identified as Gbadagesin and Kazeem Akeem, had alleged in videos circulating on social media that the commissioner summoned them to his residence and told the union leaders that the state government had endorsed Emir as the next state chairman.
However, Oyedele dismissed the claims, saying those who spoke about what transpired at the meeting were not present when the issue of the NURTW chairmanship was discussed.
“The person who did the video was not at the meeting I had with them. Had he been there, he would have known that what I told them was not what he said in that video.
“I was not in the meeting they had in Osogbo last week. After that meeting, which involved transport union members from various branches, they called me on Thursday and said they wanted to come and see me.
“I told them to come to my office on Monday (today), but they said they could come to my house.
“They came around 9 am on Sunday. When they got to my house, they told me that they had all agreed that Olalekan Emir should be the next chairman, and they wanted me to support them.
“I told them that since that was what they wanted, I would present their case before the governor, the Chief of Staff and others when he gets back to the state. That was our agreement before they left.
“It was about two hours after they left my house that I was called that Emir had been killed,” he said.
Oyedele appealed to residents to remain calm, assuring them that the crisis would soon be resolved.
The Punch
