Accord Rejects Police Meeting, Demands Arrest of Attackers in Osun

The Osun State chapter of the Accord Party has declined an invitation to a meeting convened by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, insisting that it will not engage with the police until those responsible for alleged attacks and killings of its members are arrested and prosecuted.

The party disclosed its position in a statement issued on Monday by its state chairman, Pastor Victor Akande, who accused the Osun State Police Command of failing to act on a series of violent attacks against Accord members and supporters across the state.

According to Akande, members of the party’s state executive received an invitation on Sunday for a meeting scheduled for Monday. He, however, noted that the invitation did not specify the purpose of the gathering.

He argued that the invitation came at a time when the police had allegedly failed to investigate or prosecute individuals linked to attacks on the party’s members, describing the proposed meeting as “an attempt for photo opportunity on the pains and injuries of Accord members.”

“Our members suffered repeatedly out of negligence, criminal collusion and unwillingness for law enforcement of the police command. We lost our youth leader at Ikire. Up till now, no single arrest has been made,” Akande said.

The party chairman further alleged that party billboards were destroyed by suspected members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, without any arrests being made. He also claimed that several Accord members and sympathisers sustained injuries during separate attacks in Osogbo and Ede.

“The Osun APC in broad daylight attacked several Accord members, shooting sporadically across the state capital and Ede. Seven people, mostly Accord sympathisers, were seriously injured,” he alleged.

Akande also accused armed thugs allegedly affiliated with the APC of terrorising residents in different parts of the state, claiming that the police had failed to stop their activities despite allegedly knowing their identities and locations.

He further alleged that a 14-year-old boy, Ezekiel Olapade, was killed on Sunday in the presence of police officers, adding that no arrest had been made as of the time the statement was issued.

“We therefore find it difficult to honour invitations from the police commissioner until he does the needful. We charge him to act professionally and enforce fair policing,” Akande stated.

The police command had yet to respond to the allegations at the time of filing this report.