How I Was Abducted, Shot During Protest – Osun Transport C’ttee Chairman
The Vice Chairman (Operations) of the Osun State Transport Management System (OSTMS), Mr. Wasiu Arogundade has narrated how he was allegedly abducted and shot during last Tuesday’s protest against the Chairman of the committee, Nurudeen Wakili popularly known as Alowonle.
Arogundade alleged that louts loyal to Alowonle attacked him with guns and cutlasses after descending on protesters led by him at the Olaiya junction in Osogbo.
OSUN DEFENDER had in its last edition reported how the rival groups clashed during a protest against the OSTMS Chair with allegations of corruption, high-handedness, and lack of fairness in the composition of branch and unit chairmen in the state, in a bid to compel the state government to remove him.
In a video sighted by OSUN DEFENDER yesterday, the Vice Chairmen said he was taken to Alowonle’s house at Oke Osun, Osogbo, and tied. He said he was later taken to the main road after he escaped from the house and shot in his leg.
His words: “We held a protest on July 2, 2024, to call the attention of our Chairman to what we don’t want and areas where the government needs to intervene. We had protested at Olaiya before going to our office at the Sadiat area, Osogbo. While the protest was on, the TMC chairman came with guns and cutlasses; they started attacking the people.
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“The Chairman’s boys beat me blue-black. After that, they put me in the car on the pretence that they wanted to take me to the hospital. Instead of taking me to hospital, I was taken to the Chairman’s house at Oke Osun. My hands and legs were tied. I was then put inside a room, after which they left.
“When I observed that nobody was around, I struggled to untie myself and I snuck out. I hid myself inside the bush with the aim of going out at night. Unfortunately, they caught me in the bush and I was carried to the main road. They shot my leg and I was returned to the Chairman’s house.
“They said they were not joking with me. I had concluded that I would be killed. But around 9 pm, those guys came back to me; they rubbed my eyes with leaves and I couldn’t see anything again. I began to plead with them. Later, they brought a nurse, they told her to inject me; so that I would die in three hours.
“They said they don’t want me to die in their custody. They carried me into the car and dumped me at Sasa. After they left, I took a bike to my hospital, I informed the doctor that I had been injected with a deadly substance.”
Reacting, Wakili, who sustained several cutlass wounds, disclosed that the allegations against him were all lies.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.