A political group within the Osun state All Progressives Congress, The Osun Progressives (TOP), has described the security situation in the state as “returning to dark days”. The letter which was addressed to the State Governor and copied to former Governor Adebisi Akande, Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye and the Secretary of the party Rasaq Salinsile is signed by the group’s Chairman and Secretary, Alhaji Azeez Adesiji and Sodiq Maruf. Adesiji, an ally of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was the erstwhile deputy Chairman of the APC in the state and while Sodiq is the Chairman of Oranmiyan worldwide.
The letter alleged that the spate of criminal activities in the state is worrisome and demanded urgent attention before the situation further deteriorates ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state next year. The letter titled, “SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE STATE OF OSUN” dated April 8, 2021, was received at the office of the Governor on April 9, 2021, and obtained by Vanguard.
It reads, “We, concerned members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, who wish to have a robust party and invariably a government that will provide dividends of democracy to the people, as your honour’s administration have inherited and sustained from your predecessor, now operating with the identity “The Osun Progressives, (TOP)” feel incumbent to bring to your attention, the deteriorating security conditions in the State.
“Mr Governor will recall that our state had consistently been ranked within the first three positions in Nigeria since 2017 in peace index by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) We need to put on record that you, as the then Chief of Staff, described by your predecessor as the “engine room” of his administration was part of what brought about that success.
“It is however disturbing that the activities of hoodlums, thugs, miscreants, cultists etc. have been on the increase of recent. As members of the party in power, we are disturbed that the Governor has been subjected to direct attacks on a couple of times, which were capable of not just harming him but could claim his life. We must put on record the heroic efforts of the Governor’s personal security team in warding off such offensives, but we are of the opinion that the gargantuan security architecture of the Governor could do better by being proactive and prevent such ugly incidents.
“We bring to the notice of the Governor, the recent kidnapping incidents in Iwaraja and Ibokun areas of the State, cult attacks in the core part of Osogbo which has rendered citizens helpless, and the gruesome killing of six members of a family at a Fulani settlement beside Wasinmi village, along ‘Ikire/Hadan expressway. This has had some corrosive effects on the lives of the people who always think they can go to sleep with their two eyes closed.
“The March 28th attack on the Personal Assistant to your predecessor who is the current Minister of Interior, Mr Olateju Adunni gives us reason to feel sad and we are afraid of what may become. By his account, which we believe your honour must have read, he declared it was an assassination attempt on him as declared by the assailants themselves.
“The curious issue in his narration was that the venue of the attack was populated by APC stalwarts and members who were invited to celebrate the birthday of an honourable member. So, the whole event, the birthday party and the attack were that of APC. What would have provoked it? Have we gotten to a point in APC whereby differences will be settled by assassination? If we do this to ourselves, who says the opposition PDP cannot latch onto it and deal with us severely? We refer to some intra APC attacks that have happened in recent times and we wonder if we have morality to still refer to the PDP as the nest of killers, that we use to describe them.
“It is these dark spots in our state security, hitherto known as the haven of peace that we want to humbly request your honour’s quick response that will return us to our top-notch price situation. We are approaching elections and insecurity will be a challenge difficult to contain if we don’t nip these seemingly little things in the bud.
“We suggest that it will be necessary to ensure that the security breaches are investigated and perpetrators brought to book so as to forestall a repeat. The case of Olateju will be good enough a case study to use in that regard. “We wish Mr. Governor well as he navigates the ship of our state to success.
