Editorial

EDITORIAL: The Mayhem In Osun State

ByOnline Editor

PublishedJune 12, 2026

The ongoing mayhem in Osun State is part of a grand strategy by retrogressive political forces to create the atmosphere through which the opinion and the vote of the people of Osun State will be irrelevant.

All of the posturing about the use of federal might is also part of a grand scheme.

The head of the policing system in Osun State should actually make a public declaration of where his interest lies. It is amazing that his own intelligence reports did not indicate that criminal gangs, thugs and non-state actors are out to foment trouble.

Now that the trouble has started and communities are in a state of anxiety, what is the most senior police officer in the State doing about it?

Nigeria’s current disturbing political situation requires a very professional police service. The people of Osun State are deserving of top-notch protection from marauding bands. The police must be demonstrably Independent and out of the control of political parties, forces and agents.

Right now, sadly, many are questioning the independence of the police in Osun State and there is a perception that the command chain is compromised. They have to prove that this perception is wrong and we hope that it is wrong.

It is important for them to do so and with dispatch, for it is going to get worse. The anti democratic forces are clearly alarmed that Osun State has one of the highest registration of voters nationwide.

It is very clear that those registering now and in record numbers, in particular the youthful demographics, are not going to vote for people who have betrayed the people’s trust in the past. This is why a high voter turnout on election day in August is a nightmare. Scenario for reactionaries. The lower the turnout of voters, the better for them.

What is going on is a clear attempt to send a signal that the people should stay clear of the exercise of their constitutional right by taking part in the electoral process. This must be resisted.

In order to create an atmosphere of panic and demobilization, notorious criminals are now being brought into play and grazingly parading themselves across the state. It is an incredible demonstration of complete contempt for any notion of civility and democratic plurality that keep political actors now take photographs with a notorious gangster and getting it circulated and even printed in hard copy.

Presumably, if God forbid these people win the criminal gangs will now be at the epic center of State security in Osun State. No structured police service can and should accept this sort of nonsense.

The people of Osun State have been on notice and should realize that they have to register in Larger numbers and go out in record numbers to vote in August. The political parties that are opposed to Nigeria’s descent into a fascist state must also work in unison to help the people of Osun State to control their own affairs.

Let us remember, in this parlour and difficult situation, that a democracy is best supported by eternal vigilance. We must question those who asked the children of the dispossessed to put themselves in arms’ way for a pittance, while their own children are not leading the trouble-making brigade.

The answer is simple: they have given their children juicy political appointments at the center and they cannot afford to put them in a perilous, even life-threatening situation. It is the children of the less fortunate who have to be used as cannon fodder!

The people of Osun State must not allow self- centered people like this once again to take over their State for purely self-aggrandizement.