Osun Police Fire Teargas At Accord Party Members In Ede During Project Flag Off
Tension gripped parts of Ede North Local Government Area of Osun State on Thursday, as residents scampered for safety as men of the Nigeria Police Force allegedly fired teargas to disperse members of the Accord Party who were protesting against the building of an ultramodern shopping complex in the town.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the chairman of the Local Government elected under the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adeyemi Elliot had earlier announced that the flag off of the shopping complex would take place at 10 a.m on Thursday.
However, the Accord Party supporters mobilised to the place to express their disagreement with the action, noting that the APC council chairman has no right to build a shopping complex on the local government land.
The Accord Party members who claimed that the APC council chairman’s tenure had lapsed, however, met strong restrictions from the police officers at the venue.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the disputed land located at Elerin Junction, Ede, had earlier been earmarked for a project initiated by the chairman elected under the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Taiwo Amodu.
In a video obtained by OSUN DEFENDER, the Accord Party supporters alleged that the police officers attached to the ‘A’ Division fired teargas at them.
In the video, residents were seen scampering for safety as the flame of the teargas filled the air.
Providing more insight into the issue, the council chairman elected under the PDP, Taiwo Amodu, alleged that the police fired teargas and caused trouble in the town.
He said, “During my time as the caretaker chairman before I was fully elected, I called some people and deliberated on how we could increase the Internally Generated Revenue of the council and we decided that we should lease out some of our properties.
“We inaugurated a committee which included the Head of the Local Government, civil servants, representatives of Ede Youths, Ede Descendants and representatives from the Ministry.
“So, we decided that whatever money we got from the leased properties, we would use it to develop a piece of land belonging to the council. During the time I left as caretaker chairman and was preparing for the election, the committee were the one doing it. But after our election, the workers went on strike and the work couldn’t continue.
“However, when they resumed, the committee decided to go back to work. They bought blocks and plan to start work on the site when the chairman elected under the All Progressives Congress took policemen to the site to stop them.
“It was at this period that the Timi of Ede, Oba Adesola Lawal wade in and told everyone to calm down. However, we heard yesterday that the APC people wanted to do a flag-off ceremony today and that got Ede people angry and they went there to say they should not do anything there since the king had sued for peace.
“But the police officers who were there fired teargas at the people and some vehicles were destroyed.”
Amodu added that the monarch had called the two factions to a meeting following the incident and instructed that nobody should go to the site again.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Abiodun Ojelabi, promised to get back to our reporter.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
