The Osun State Police Command has released the state Commissioner for Environment, Mayowa Adejoorin, after he spent almost 24 hours in detention following a shooting incident in Ilesa.
Adejoorin was arrested on Saturday after three people were reportedly injured during a political rally organised by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ilesa West Local Government Area.
The incident occurred around the Isokun area of Ilesa, with one of the victims identified as 14-year-old Tobi Ilesanmi.
The commissioner was reportedly passing through the area when he was intercepted by police operatives responding to the shooting.
The Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said on Saturday that three people were injured and taken to different hospitals for treatment.
According to Ojelabi, the shooting involved suspected operatives of the Amotekun Corps who were travelling in a vehicle with an official Osun State Government number plate.
He said the incident occurred while an APC rally was underway, adding that the suspected Amotekun personnel allegedly emerged from a vehicle and opened fire before fleeing the scene.
Ojelabi said some people at the rally pursued the suspects, with one of them allegedly drawing a knife when confronted before escaping.
He explained that police tactical operatives from the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), stationed near the area, responded to the distress call.
According to him, the operatives intercepted a white Lexus 350 approaching the scene and found an Amotekun operative and another passenger inside.
The occupants were subsequently taken to the police headquarters in Osogbo, where the second occupant was identified as Adejoorin.
Ojelabi said the arrest was necessary to establish the commissioner’s level of involvement in the incident, noting that police recovered four expended cartridges at the scene and a pump-action gun from the Amotekun operative.
However, the APC Campaign Council’s Head for Ilesa West, Folarin Fafowora, gave a different account of the incident.
Fafowora alleged that the shooting occurred towards the end of the APC rally and claimed that the Chief Whip of the Osun State House of Assembly, Wale Akerele, was in the area when the incident happened.
He alleged that people started running after gunshots were fired and claimed that Amotekun personnel escorting Akerele were also involved in the shooting.
The incident has subsequently triggered accusations between the APC and the Accord Party.
Pelumi Olajengbesi, spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Governor Ademola Adeleke’s campaign team, accused APC members of carrying out the shooting during the rally and alleged that properties belonging to Accord party members were destroyed.
Olajengbesi also claimed that the Accord party secretariat was attacked during the incident, saying videos of the alleged actions were available.
The police, however, have not publicly established the culpability of any of the political actors involved, as investigations into the shooting remain ongoing.
Giving an update on Sunday, Ojelabi confirmed that Adejoorin had been released.
“The commissioner has been released. He was released today,” the police spokesperson said.
Ojelabi, however, said he could not confirm whether the Amotekun operative arrested alongside Adejoorin had also been released, explaining that he was still gathering information on the matter.
The police investigation is expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting, identify those responsible and establish the involvement, if any, of persons arrested in connection with the incident.
