How Power Tussle May Worsen Growing Insecurity In Osun

• Residents In Fear Over Kidnapping Cases – Findings
• Closing Amotekun Offices For Months Political – CSJPP
• Police Mum On Omoyele, Others’ Fate Three Months After

The growing power tussle in Osun State between the ruling Accord party and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) may worsen the growing insecurity in the state, OSUN DEFENDER gathered.

Findings by the medium over the weekend revealed that the show of force between both sides may later plunge the state into more insecurity, particularly with the involvement of the Nigeria Police Force and recent kidnapping cases in the state.

OSUN DEFENDER reports that in the last few months, three people, including a retired customs officer, were kidnapped by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Ora-Igbomina, Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state.

Ora-Igbomina is one of the boundary communities close to Kwara State, where at least 162 residents were killed in coordinated attacks on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area, last week.

Sources within the community said the perpetrators struck at some minutes to midnight on Sunday, February 1 at a private residence along Aran-Orin Road, Papa in the town.

The latest abduction occurred less than two months after an ex-Customs officer, Emmanuel Owolabi, was kidnapped in front of his house in by suspected bandits on December 15, 2025,

He was, however, freed on January 12 at Oro Ago, a community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, after the payment of ransom.

• Police Mum On Omoyele, Others’ Fate Three Months After Arrest

Additionally, the state operations office and command headquarters of the Osun State Security Network codenamed Amotekun Corps have been shut since the September 30, 2025 incident in Akinlalu, a community in Ife-North Local Government area of the state, where its operatives allegedly killed four members of the town including two siblings, with eleven others injured during a raid on the town.

Some police officers from the Intelligence Response Team, Force Headquarters, Abuja, had stormed the operation base of Osun Amotekun Corps in Oke-Fia and Ile-Ife and arrested 20 personnel of the corps over the incident.

Also, the Corps Commander, Adekunle Omoyele, was taken into custody on October 15, 2025 after honouring an invitation. Both Omoyele and his officers are yet to be tried more than three months after.

Also, the two offices have yet to be opened after their sealing by the Police, despite growing insecurity concerns in neighbouring states, while the force has declined to speak on the matter since their detention.

The development, OSUN DEFENDER learnt, has stirred up tensions among residents of the state, as many have been wary of a possible influx of bandits into the state’s forests guarded by the Amotekun corps.

• Residents In Fear Over Kidnapping Cases – Findings

A cross-section of the residents who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER said the continued detention of Omoyele without trial is against the rule of law and an abuse of human rights.

A resident of Osogbo who simply identified himself as Akindele stressed that Omoyele’s detention has negatively impacted the effectiveness of the Corps, which was established to complement the Nigeria Police and other security agencies in maintaining law and order at the grassroots level.

Akindele noted that since the detention of the Amotekun boss, the presence of the Corps in communities has significantly reduced, leading to heightened fear among residents and a perceived increase in criminal activities.

He said, “Amotekun was created to assist other sister security agencies in protecting lives and property. What happened in Akinlalu was unfortunate, but the continuous detention of the commander is unnecessary.

“Those directly involved in the misfire that led to the killing of innocent people have already been arrested and should face the law,” he said.

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• Insecurity: Unseal Amotekun To Contain Banditry, Kidnapping – Adeleke To IGP

He further criticised the sealing of Amotekun offices across the state, describing the action as excessive and counterproductive, especially at a time when communities are grappling with rising cases of theft, robbery and other criminal activities.

Akindele condemned the actions of the Nigeria Police and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, calling on the police authorities to reconsider their approach to the matter in the interest of public safety.

He called for the immediate release of the Amotekun commander and other detained operatives, insisting that justice would best be served by prosecuting only those found culpable in the killings, rather than weakening the entire security architecture of the state.

Commenting on the issue, the Public Relations Officer of Osun Amotekun, Yusuf Idowu Abass, said the operations of the security outfit are no longer effective as before, as officers’ morale has been dampened by the continued detention of their colleagues.

The PRO stated this while responding to enquiry by OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday.

He said: “The Commander and the operatives remain in police detention in Abuja and this has negatively affected the activities of the corps. Operations are no longer as effective as before, as officers’ morale has been dampened by the continued detention of their colleagues.”

Similarly, Governor Ademola Adeleke in a statement also warned against the spillover of banditry and kidnapping from Kwara state into Osun, urging the police to immediately lift the ban on Amotekun operations to combat the emerging threats.

Adeleke also said the state is handicapped in its security response as the Amotekun service has remained sealed by the police with her top officers in detention without trial for several months.

OSUN DEFENDER reports that the Amotekun operation base was sealed following the arrest of some personnel of the security agency after their alleged involvement in the killings of some residents of Akinlalu community in Ife North local government.

The governor in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, posited that the Amotekun service had developed the containment expertise especially in the rural border areas, submitting that the police’s shutting down of the service operations has created a big gap being exploited by bandits and criminals.

Governor Adeleke called on the Inspector General of Police to charge those detained to court and unseal the service, adding that further delay may endanger the rural population and open the state to further criminal infiltration.

Other residents who spoke to OSUN DEFENDER accused the Inspector General of Police of dancing to the APC powerplay by keeping the security agents leaders in custody to cripple the security architecture of the state, ahead of the forthcoming elections.

They alleged that the open admittance of the Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Francis Fadahunsi to being behind the closure of the security outfit, alludes to the fact that the opposition is bent on further polarising the state, ahead of the August 8, 2026 gubernatorial election.

• Continued Closure Of Amotekun Offices Political, Self-Serving – CSJPP

Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER yesterday, the Coordinator, Centre for Social Justice and Public Protection, Akin Akanji, berated the situation saying the continued shutdown of Osun Amotekun Corps is political.

Akanji, a security and public policy expert, stressed that the ongoing powerplay between both political actors is inimical to the safety of lives and property of residents of the state.

He called on the Inspector General of Police to speed up the trial of those currently in custody, while unsealing the offices, to allow the corps perform its constitutional mandate.

His words, “The situation we have found ourselves in Osun is sad. It is nothing short of the political imbroglio currently happening in the state.

“While the local government issue remains more political, our security has also been heavily politicised. Our organisation wishes to use this medium to call on the actors on both sides to sheath their swords In the progress of the state.

“Those who have been alleged to have killed people in Akinlalu should be tried and brought to justice in accordance with the laws of the land. There should not be any sacred cows. The state government should also reconstitute Amotekun and retrain its officers on credible community security. This should be done urgently to stem the tide of growing insecurity across the region from crossing to the state,” Akanji noted.