An Osun State divisional police officer, John Olatona Bamidele, has been identified by witnesses as the person who shot dead a passenger and wounded a driver named Saheed Akinrole at Naira and Kobo Motor Park in Ikire during a violent confrontation linked to a transport union leadership dispute.
The incident took place on Monday morning at the motor park located in Irewole Local Government Area. Bamidele serves as the divisional police officer for the area. Two people died in the shooting, and about four others were hospitalized, according to a community resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The victim’s wife, who was seated in the back of the vehicle at the time of the shooting, directly accused Bamidele of killing her husband. She was recorded crying uncontrollably shortly after the incident in a video captured by a community blog page.
“I was in the back seat and my husband in the passenger seat beside the driver when it happened,” the woman said in the Yoruba-language recording. She said police recklessly maneuvered against their car before opening fire.
“The DPO killed my husband by a stray bullet that pierced through the window into his head,” she said. The identity of the deceased, a man believed to be in his 50s, had not been verified at press time.
The victim was said to be an indigene of Ikire who had just arrived in a cream-colored SUV from Ibadan, Oyo State, in the company of his family. The driver of the vehicle corroborated the wife’s account of how the shooting unfolded at the junction.
“We were coming from Ibadan, and when we got to the Ikire Junction, a white police patrol truck recklessly maneuvered around us,” the driver said. He added that police opened fire very quickly after the vehicle was cut off.
The background to the shooting involved an internal crisis within the National Union of Road Transport Workers. Factions of the union have been engaged in months of violence over the leadership of the union in the state, with tensions centered on control of motor parks.
On Sunday, information circulated in Ikire that one faction planned to seize Naira and Kobo Motor Park the following morning. A community resident said the faction already occupying the park briefed Bamidele ahead of the anticipated confrontation with the opposing group.
The opposing faction arrived at the park on Monday morning in a convoy, accompanied by a police team led by Bamidele. The community resident said Bamidele began by firing shots into the air when he arrived at the scene.
“He started shooting up in the air, and some park officials maintained that they constituted no harm and asked him to go after those disturbing their peace,” the resident said. The resident added that Bamidele then shot at driver Akinrole before the situation escalated further.
The resident described a pattern of conduct by Bamidele that community members found troubling. “His method is to first drive to a location of interest, chase perceived enemies away, and then inform thugs and opposition politicians to take over,” the resident said.
Community members said they had previously appealed to the Inspector General of Police to redeploy Bamidele. “We have been crying out to the IGP to redeploy him because he has been causing havoc to homes and our people,” the resident said, noting a prior incident at a local government secretariat.
A policeman was also reported to have been shot during the incident, though the resident who relayed that detail described it as unverified. Four people were confirmed hospitalized following the violence at the motor park.
Abiodun Ojelabi, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, confirmed two deaths when contacted on Monday evening. Ojelabi referred reporters to a statement in which he also promised that the incident would be investigated by the command.
Woman Watched Husband Get Shot in the Head by DPO Bamidele in Osun.
An Osun State divisional police officer, John Olatona Bamidele, has been identified by witnesses as the person who shot dead a passenger and wounded a driver named Saheed Akinrole at Naira and Kobo Motor Park in Ikire during a violent confrontation linked to a transport union leadership dispute.
The incident took place on Monday morning at the motor park located in Irewole Local Government Area. Bamidele serves as the divisional police officer for the area. Two people died in the shooting, and about four others were hospitalized, according to a community resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The victim’s wife, who was seated in the back of the vehicle at the time of the shooting, directly accused Bamidele of killing her husband. She was recorded crying uncontrollably shortly after the incident in a video captured by a community blog page.
“I was in the back seat and my husband in the passenger seat beside the driver when it happened,” the woman said in the Yoruba-language recording. She said police recklessly maneuvered against their car before opening fire.
“The DPO killed my husband by a stray bullet that pierced through the window into his head,” she said. The identity of the deceased, a man believed to be in his 50s, had not been verified at press time.
The victim was said to be an indigene of Ikire who had just arrived in a cream-colored SUV from Ibadan, Oyo State, in the company of his family. The driver of the vehicle corroborated the wife’s account of how the shooting unfolded at the junction.
“We were coming from Ibadan, and when we got to the Ikire Junction, a white police patrol truck recklessly maneuvered around us,” the driver said. He added that police opened fire very quickly after the vehicle was cut off.
The background to the shooting involved an internal crisis within the National Union of Road Transport Workers. Factions of the union have been engaged in months of violence over the leadership of the union in the state, with tensions centered on control of motor parks.
On Sunday, information circulated in Ikire that one faction planned to seize Naira and Kobo Motor Park the following morning. A community resident said the faction already occupying the park briefed Bamidele ahead of the anticipated confrontation with the opposing group.
The opposing faction arrived at the park on Monday morning in a convoy, accompanied by a police team led by Bamidele. The community resident said Bamidele began by firing shots into the air when he arrived at the scene.
“He started shooting up in the air, and some park officials maintained that they constituted no harm and asked him to go after those disturbing their peace,” the resident said. The resident added that Bamidele then shot at driver Akinrole before the situation escalated further.
The resident described a pattern of conduct by Bamidele that community members found troubling. “His method is to first drive to a location of interest, chase perceived enemies away, and then inform thugs and opposition politicians to take over,” the resident said.
Community members said they had previously appealed to the Inspector General of Police to redeploy Bamidele. “We have been crying out to the IGP to redeploy him because he has been causing havoc to homes and our people,” the resident said, noting a prior incident at a local government secretariat.
A policeman was also reported to have been shot during the incident, though the resident who relayed that detail described it as unverified. Four people were confirmed hospitalized following the violence at the motor park.
Abiodun Ojelabi, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, confirmed two deaths when contacted on Monday evening. Ojelabi referred reporters to a statement in which he also promised that the incident would be investigated by the command.
