Father of a 14-year-old boy, Ezekiel Olapade, allegedly shot dead near the entrance to the Irepodun Local Government Secretariat in Ilobu, Osun State, Gbenga Olapade, has narrated how hoodlums launched an attack on those sitting at his wife’s bar on Saturday evening.
Olapade, who said he spoke to the deceased less than 30 minutes before he was killed, noted that police operatives were close to the scene of the incident and watched as hoodlums, led by one Saheed Tanfeani, allegedly shot people near the entrance to the Irepodun LG Secretariat.
PUNCH Metro reports that Ezekiel was shot dead, while one other person said to be wearing a yellow fez cap was injured in the attack that took place at a palm wine bar.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said the hoodlums, led by Saheed, were about to enter the premises of the council secretariat when they sighted a man wearing a cap in the colour of a particular political party sitting in a pub located opposite the council gate, owned by the mother of the deceased.
When contacted, state Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident, saying, “The incident happened this afternoon close to the entrance of Irepodun Local Government Secretariat in Ilobu. One Saheed, alias Tanfeani, came with other thugs and started shooting. In the process, the bullet hit Ezekiel Olapade, and he died at the spot. He was aged 14 years.”
Speaking with our correspondent in Osogbo on Monday, Olapade, an indigene of Ogbomoso but living in Ilobu since 1996, said he was listening to a radio programme when some hoodlums started shooting at the entrance to the Irepodun LG Secretariat.
“I am the father of the 14-year-old boy killed by political hoodlums in Ilobu on Sunday. I have five children, but two of them are dead now. Ezekiel is my last child, and he just finished his JSS 3 exams.
“My wife sells palm wine opposite the LGA secretariat in Ilobu, and I was the one who helped her get the palm wine she wanted to sell yesterday. After arriving at the shop, some customers, including a resident of Ifon who wore a yellow cap, came around.
“Few minutes later, some thugs who came to the headquarters of Irepodun Local Government in a branded vehicle of AMBO started shooting sporadically, and everyone ran for their lives. In the process of running away, my wife lost her balance and fell.
My son, who heard that his mother had fallen, turned back and returned to her.
“The hoodlums at that point were aiming at the man wearing the yellow fez cap, and it was at that moment that my son was hit. I was the one who rescued the man wearing the yellow cap and took him to a pharmacy in Ilobu, not knowing that my own son had been shot dead,” Olapade said.
He further alleged that the perpetrators were led by Saheed Tanfeani, an indigene of Ilobu, adding that he got to know his son had been hit when his wife called and said they could not find Ezekiel after the melee.
Olapade said, “I want Nigerians to come to my rescue. I don’t have anybody. I want justice. I still spoke with my son around 3:30 p.m. before the incident happened. Police officers were around the local government council when the incident happened. They witnessed how the thugs shot without doing anything.
“It was the same police officers who took away Ezekiel’s dead body after the thugs left the scene.”
But the suspect mentioned as the leader of the gang involved in the incident, Saheed Tanfeani, in a video posted by a Facebook user, David Olufunsho Fagbohungbe Gfod, denied involvement.
Saheed, in the video, said he was not in Ilobu when the incident happened, stating that he was in Osogbo, the state capital, and rained curses on the perpetrators.
He further said in Yoruba, “I knew nothing about yesterday’s incident that happened in Ilobu. I am not a killer. I have never killed anybody before.
“I was in Osogbo throughout yesterday, and what I heard was that it was the Amotekun operatives who went there. Those who killed the boy were members of the Accord Party, and they were only trying to frame me up.”
Meanwhile, the Director-General, The Imole Campaign Council, Senator Lere Oyewumi, has called for the redeployment of Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, saying the police boss was no longer capable of protecting the state.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo, Oyewumi, who was flanked by the father of the deceased teenager, Gbenga Olapade, said criminals are getting emboldened, yet the command has refused to act against them.
“For several months, we have repeatedly warned and raised several alarms that the persistent failure of law enforcement authorities to decisively confront political violence would embolden criminal elements.
“Unfortunately, our fears have been justified. What happened in Ilobu is not an isolated incident but part of a disturbing pattern that has seen innocent citizens repeatedly become victims of politically inspired attacks.
“The people of Osun State cannot continue to live under the shadow of politically motivated killings while those responsible move about freely. We therefore call on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu, to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of Saheed ‘Tanfeani’ and every individual connected with this heinous crime.
“We also demand a comprehensive investigation into all reported incidents of political violence across Osun State with a view to bringing every perpetrator, sponsor, and collaborator to justice, irrespective of status or political affiliation,” Oyewumi said.
He expressed a lack of confidence in the leadership of the Osun State Police Command under Gotan, saying the recurring pattern of political violence, the apparent absence of deterrence, and the widespread perception of selective law enforcement have eroded public trust in the command’s ability to discharge its constitutional responsibilities impartially.
He further said, “It is our considered position that the continued stay of Mr Ibrahim Gotan as Commissioner of Police in Osun State has become a danger and detrimental to public confidence and security.
“We therefore call on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately redeploy him from Osun State and institute a thorough investigation into what appears to be persistent failures of operational response and law enforcement oversight under his watch.”
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in the state, however, dissociated the party and its governorship candidate from any act of violence.
The party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, in a statement obtained in Osogbo on Monday, condemned the incident and called for a thorough probe to fish out the perpetrators.
The statement read in part, “It was the display of the highest level of wickedness for anyone to have resorted to cutting short the life of such a promising teenager for any reason.
“We are strongly calling on the state police command to investigate the callous killing of the teenager with a view to bringing to justice whoever might be directly or remotely connected with the extrajudicial killing of the teenager in Ilobu.
“We commiserate with the parents and the entire Ilobu community over the needless and wicked killing of their son and pray fervently to God to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable sudden death of their son.”
The party also warned disgruntled elements in the state who may be using political cover to perpetrate violence against innocent members of the public to desist, insisting that such was neither the hallmark of the APC nor its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
The APC further stated, “We want to state without mincing words that our governorship candidate, Asiwaju Oyebamiji, does not believe in violence and he has never and will never sponsor violence against anyone or group of persons, as it is his belief that the political ambition of any individual is not worth the blood of any person.
“We are enjoining the state Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to effectively carry out his constitutional duty of protecting the lives and property of the innocent people of the state instead of needlessly politicising such aspect of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
