Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Mayowa Adejoorin, has been released by the police after spending nearly 24 hours in detention following a shooting incident that disrupted a political rally in Ilesa.
Adejoorin was arrested on Saturday after violence erupted in the Isokun area of Ilesa during a street rally organised by the All Progressives Congress in Ilesa West Local Government Area.
At least three people sustained injuries in the incident, including a 14-year-old boy identified as Tobi Ilesanmi.
Confirming the development on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the commissioner had been released after questioning.
“The commissioner has been released. He was released today but the Amotekun that was arrested with him, I can’t confirm his release yet because I am still gathering my facts,” Ojelabi said.
The police had earlier disclosed that tactical operatives responding to reports of the shooting intercepted a vehicle carrying an Amotekun operative and Adejoorin near the scene.
Both men were subsequently taken to the command headquarters in Osogbo for interrogation.
Ojelabi said preliminary investigations linked the incident to armed individuals allegedly conveyed in a vehicle bearing an Osun State Government registration number.
“Three persons are confirmed injured, and they were taken to different hospitals. From the reports we have, they were shot at the rally scene,” he said.
The incident has triggered political accusations between the APC and the Accord Party.
Head of the APC Campaign Council for Ilesa West, Folarin Fafowora, alleged that the shooting occurred as the rally was drawing to a close.
However, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, rejected the allegations against officials linked to the state government, insisting that APC supporters were responsible for the violence.
“The video of Ilesa shooting is all over the place. Members of the APC were shooting in the name of the rally, destroying properties that belong to the Accord members.
They destroyed the Accord Party secretariat, and the videos are all over the place,” Olajengbesi said.
Police said investigations into the shooting are ongoing as authorities work to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify those responsible.
