The Osun State Police Command has said security men in the convoy of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, were behind indiscriminate shooting that occurred at the Old Garage area of Osogbo on Monday.
During the incident, gunshots were heard, causing panic among the residents, as the convoy passed through the Old Garage to the Oke Fia area of the state capital.
The command’s spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, in a statement on Tuesday, said personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Correctional Service and Nigeria Immigration Service in the convoy of Aregbesola shot without provocation along the Old Garage and the MDS in the metropolis as the convoy passed through the area.
Opalola, who also said the shooting caused panic, noted that 13 bullet shells were recovered after the minister’s convoy had left the area.
The statement read in part, “Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola was moving in the convoy of personnel of the NSCDC, Correctional Service, Immigration, as well as some unidentified armed people suspected to be political thugs along the Orisumbare/MDS Road, Osogbo.
“Suddenly, some of the security escorts of the minister started shooting sporadically in the air without any provocation or attack, thereby causing members of the public to scamper to safety. Thirteen empty shells of G-3, assault and AK-47 rifles were recovered along the road after the minister’s departure. No casualty was, however, recovered.”
But the state command of the NSCDC said in another statement that security operatives repelled an attack by some hoodlums on the convoy of the ex-governor of the state.
A statement by the spokesperson for the NSCDC in the state, Olabisi Atanda, said, “Unknown hoodlums attacked the convoy of the former governor of Osun State and Minister, Federal Ministry of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, today (Monday) at about 6.40pm around the Old Garage area in Osogbo, the state capital.
“However, the security details of the minister were able to disperse the hoodlums and bring normalcy to the area.
“Commandant Emmanuel Ocheja said Osun State is a peaceful state and the command will continue to render excellent and all-inclusive security services in the state in line with the statutory mandates and functions of the corps. Professionalism and impartiality is the watchword of the NSCDC at all times.”
Meanwhile, some placard-carrying members of the National Association of Osun Students, on Tuesday, stormed the entrance to the state command headquarters of the NSCDC in protest over the alleged indiscriminate shooting by its men in Osogbo on Monday.
The protesters, led by the NAOSS President, Mr Moshood Yusuf, were, however, prevented from gaining entry into the headquarters by armed men at the entrance to the premises in the Oke Ayepe area of Osogbo.
Armed with placards with various inscriptions such as, ‘NSCDC stop violence in Osun’, ‘NSCDC no to shooting sporadically in public’, and ‘NSCDC stop shooting in Osun’, the protesters impeded the movement of vehicles into and out of the premises.
