Ede: How Skirmishes Among PDP Members Led To Killing Of Pregnant Woman, Bricklayer

 

Ismaeel Uthman, Kazeem Badmus

LAST Friday and Saturday’s crisis in Ede has been described as one too many.

The crisis started from mere quarrel among members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Ward 1, Oloba Atapara, Ede, Ede North Local Government of the State of Osun, on Friday, August 5 and raged till Saturday, August 6.

A bricklayer, Abideen Olalekan, popularly known as ‘Kuranga’ and a pregnant woman, Kafayat Olalekan, were killed while two houses and three shops were torched. 

 Kafayat Olalekan, a nursing mother, was said to be four-month-old pregnant when she was shot dead by unknown persons around 10pm of Friday at Atapa area of Ede. 

Her daughter, Azeenat, was reportedly removed from her back and put on her lifeless body after being shot on her breast. 

The late Abideen Olalekan was allegedly shot by a policeman attached to the Osun Commissioner of Police’s Surveillance Team, Mr. Isaac Adekunle Omoyele, in a close range on the order of the Minority Leader of the House of Assembly, State of Osun, Hon. Babajide Kofoworola Adewumi.

Both Abideen Olalekan and Kafayat Olalekan are from the same house and the same family.

But Adewumi said he was nowhere near Atapa where the victims were killed, maintaining that he did not bring any policeman to the town. 

Omoyele, the policeman that allegedly killed Abideen Olalekan, was on August 3, 2022 deployed as Chief Security Officer to the Governor-elect, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, by the Inspector General of Police.

Some members of the public have been protesting Omoyele’s deployment, noting that a policeman that is allegedly caught in the web of unprofessional conducts should not be trusted with such sensitive position.

However, investigations by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that the deceased was shot when he asked why the policemen wanted to arrest his younger sister, Rukayat Olasoji, the caretaker Women Leader of Ward 1, Oloba Atapara. 

“Abideen Olalekan did not engaged the policemen in any altercation, not to talk of attempting to snatch gun from them,” said sources who witnessed how he was killed. 

Not a single person passed a negative comment on the deceased when interviewed. He was said to be the breadwinner of the family. 

Olalekan’s blood stained the curvet and ground when OSUN DEFENDER visited the spot on Tuesday.  

Findings further revealed that in protest of the killing, some irate youths in the area mobilised themselves and set  Adewumi’s parents’ house ablaze at Iso-Isu area, Ede. 

Investigations revealed that the crisis started when some members of the PDP at the ward meeting asked questions about a sum of N200,000 reportedly given to them by the Governor-elect, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, to celebrate his electoral victory. 

Some members of the party at the meeting claimed that the money was given to Adewumi, the Minority Leader, who was to deliver it to the Ward Chairman for sharing among party members. 

It was gathered that the failure to make the money available led to quarrel among members of the party, particularly between Adewumi’s driver, known as Olobe and an elderly woman, Silifat Olalekan, the mother of the deceased. 

Minority Leader Brought Policemen To Kill My Brother – Deceased’s Sister

Narrating the incident, Rukayat Olasoji, the women leader of the ward said, “I’m the younger sister to Olalekan Abideen who was killed on Friday, August 5, 2022. I am also the elder sister to Tunde Olalekan, whose wife was also killed on that same day. 

“What happened was that we had issues during our PDP ward meeting which involved the minority leader of State House of Assembly, Hon. Kofoworola Nurudeen (Akogun) concerning the money that was given to us after we won the election. The money was to be shared among ward members for a job well done in the election. 

“I belong to Ward 1, Oloba Atapara, Ede North Local Government where the minority leader also came from. On that day, we asked the Ward Chairman about the money meant for us and she told us that the money was with Akogun (the minority leader). 

“The chairman said Akogun told him that he had spent the money when he asked him. The chairman told us to forget the money. 

“My mother, Silifat Olalekan, who was one of the delegates that got Akogun elected during the House of Assemblies primaries, and another woman called Sokope Alhaja stood up to challenge the ward chairman on the money. They told him that they would not allow us to be cheated on something we all worked for. 

“At that point, things got a little heated up and a guy called Olobe, Akogun’s driver, attempted to beat my mother but some guys at the meeting prevented him. He left the meeting and later returned with police officers from division 1, Pere. The police settled the issue in the presence of Akogun and we all left the meeting. 

“About 30minutes after the meeting ended, I was at the junction talking with some people when Akogun came with policemen from Osogbo; the officers were putting on blue jacket. One of the policemen tapped my shoulder, seeking my audience. 

“I was the one Akogun asked them (policemen) to arrest because the minority leader pointed at me from his car. His car was following that of the policemen. One of the policemen tapped and told me my attention was needed in Osogbo. 

“My brother, Abideen Olalekan, who was coming from the other side of the road saw us and came near asking me what my business was with the police. Before I could say anything, I heard a gunshot and the person the police shot was my brother.

“Akogun’s claim that my brother was dragging gun with the police officer is a big lie. He also said that my brother brought out a gun, those are lies against the dead. 

“After the police shot my brother, Akogun told the officers to carry his corps and it was put at the back of their vehicle and they drove off. 

“Later, I was called from Pere Police Station to come and give report. I was at the Station with my husband when Akogun called that some people have set his parents’ house ablaze and his dad was missing. He later came to the station and told the officers there to arrest my husband and I, claiming that he suspected us of masterminding the torching of the house. 

“The police asked the time the incident happened and he said around 9pm. The police told him that I have been with them since 8pm. He insisted that the police should release me to him so he could hand me over to some unknown policemen from Osogbo police. The policemen at Pere rejected and told him to go and look for his suspect elsewhere. He got furious and told us that we were lucky he wasn’t with his gun, else he would have killed us right there. He attempted to snatch a gun from one of the policemen following him but the officer withdrew the rifle. He left the station with anger. 

“It wasn’t up to 10 minutes after he left that a soldier brought my niece, Azeenat, to the station. The officer said he picked her up from a woman who was shot at Atapa. I collected the child from him; she was soaked with blood. 

“At that moment, I started calling people to inform them and asked them to look for the child’s mother, who is the wife of my younger brother, Tunde Olalekan. Everyone I called told me that members of the Oodua’s Peoples Congress (OPC) and some thugs brought by Akogun were on rampage and shooting sporadically. It was in the morning that we saw Azeenat’s mother’s corpse in front of the house where she was killed. Our family house was also burnt that night.”

The grieving woman pleaded with the government, human rights organizations and individuals to support the family in getting justice on the loss. 

She said, “If truly there is a working judicial system with fairness, there should be justice for our family. We want justice for our family. We don’t want to be cheated on this case.”

I Don’t Know Anything About Killings, My Life In Danger – Lawmaker 

But Adewumi, the lawmaker, denied all the allegations, saying that he was not involved in the killings and destruction of property. 

In an interview with newsmen on Tuesday, Adewumi accused the state government of ‘selective sympathy and bias’ in its reaction to the crisis. 

The minority leader said, “On Friday, August 5, 2022, around 6pm, I went to my party’s meeting at Ward 1, Oloba Atapara, Ede North local government. I met the Ward Secretary of the party quarrelling with one woman. I calmed both parties down but the situation degenerated to the point where members were pelting sachet water at one another. I was pelted as well but I maintained my calmness. 

“About five minutes later, a guy known as Ganiyu Ibrahim (Elemo) and other guys who are known to be thugs rushed to the meeting. They were armed with cutlasses and clubs and they started beating people. I was attacked as well but I did not do anything. The ward secretary was chased out of the meeting and he called his police friend from Pere Police Station. It was the policeman that came to rescue him from where he was chased to and I left the venue of the meeting thereafter.

“On my way, I stopped at the PDP secretariat at Oke Areago and held a discussion with some party members there for like 10 minutes. I thereafter left for Osogbo. I have not gotten to Osogbo when I received a call that some policemen have killed somebody in Ede. I then decided to return to home. 

“I have not gotten to Ede when I heard that my parents’ house at Iso-Isu has been torched. I was worried and halted my movement to Ede. I called some policemen to join me and we both headed to my parents’ house. 

“I met the house on fire. I enquired from people where my parents were and I was told my mother ran out of the house before it was set ablaze. But my father is old and could not run. So, his whereabout was unknown. I left there with the policemen to my own house in Ogberin. I pleaded with them to help me protect the house and I left to report at Pere Police Station. 

“I met a lady known as Ruka and her husband at the police station. I told the Divisional Police Officer that my dad was missing and he said he was on the matter. Suddenly, the DPO disappeared and I had to call him on phone for not taking my case serious. Immediately I dropped the phone, some policemen brought a little girl of one year of age to the station. 

“I had earlier been told that some thugs had attacked my driver’s wife and forcefully took away her child. I noticed the baby was stained with blood and later, we were told that the mother of the little girl had been killed at Atapa. That is what I know about that. 

“The most important thing to me now is to know the whereabout of my father. It is unfortunate that the state government did not care about my missing father and my property while reacting on the matter. Is it because the people that perpetrated the evil acts are members of the APC? I am not safe, my life and that of my family members are in danger. The commissioner of police did not provide security for me. 

“I am not the one that brought policemen to the meeting or where they shot the deceased. I did not know anything about it. 

“I did not know anything about how the family house of Tunde Elemo was burnt. I was inside the police station at that time; it was midnight. The DPO led me to where I slept. So, where and how did I get involved in the torching of the house?

 “It was Tunde Elemo that set my house ablaze. They are APC members who have been terrorizing Ede community.”

Speaking on the reported N200,000 he is supposed to deliver to the ward to celebrate Adeleke’s victory, Adewumi said he was not given any money to deliver to the ward. 

“Did party send money to the ward? Don’t we have ward chairman? How would the money meant for the ward be sent to me? I represent the constituency, not the ward,” he said. 

Police Assure Victims’ Family Of Justice, Probe Officers 

The State of Osun Police Command has assured the Olalekan family which lost two of its members to the crisis of justice. 

Police Public Relations Officer, Osun Command, Mrs Yemisi Opalola, in an interview with OSUN DEFENDER, said investigations have begun on the matter, noting that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Olawale Olokode, has disbanded the CP’s Surveillance Team which is allegedly responsible for the killing of the deceased. 

Opalola said,“When the CP was informed about the incident with the alleged involvement of some officers of the Surveillance Team, he disbanded the team and asked the officers to report to the state command immediately. Investigations have commenced on the matter.

“Anybody that is found guilty in the crisis will face the full wrath of law. I want to assure the family of those that were killed in the crisis that they will get justice. I want to appeal to residents and indigenes of Ede to trust the police, remain calm and do not take laws into their hands.”