Aregbesola rattled in Osogbo as hoodlums attack convoy

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, was yesterday attacked by some suspected thugs in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The gun-wielding hoodlums, suspected to be political thugs, waylaid his convoy and started shooting in a bid to scare away the former governor of the state and members of his entourage.

The Guardian correspondent had walked into the convoy of Aregbesola at Orita-Gbaemu area of Osogbo around 5:30 p.m. and sighted the minister standing on the open roof of his vehicle waiving at the large crowd of residents who were hailing and jubilating at seeing him.

Aregbesola continued his demonstration amid singing by his followers. Some were screaming “Sheu” as others were waiving brooms. The roadshow pulled so much crowd that there was traffic snarl along the Gbaemu-Idi-Seke Road.

However, pandemonium broke when Aregbesola got to Orisunbare Market, close to Old-Garage when sounds of gunshots rented the air.

Jubilant residents, who were following Aregbesola, fled to escape being hit by stray bullet.

A team of combined security operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Department of State Services (DSS), who were among Aregbesola’s convoy, stepped down from the vehicles and started shooting in a bid to scare away the armed thugs.

For about 20 minutes, the Old Garage Area was thrown into panic as a result of resounding gunshots from the thugs and security operatives.

Amid this melee, Aregbesola was still unperturbed. The security personnel were able to overpower the suspected thugs who later fled before the minister’s convoy had its way through the Dugbe/Igbona Area of the state capital.

The minister suffered the attack few hours after he openly declared that the former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, is the next governor of the state.

A statement signed by Media Adviser to the Minister, Sola Fasure, quoted Aregbesola as saying that “the party is back in the hands of true progressives who will work assiduously to win the July 16 governorship election.”

Aregbesola added that the present administration in Osun had deviated solely from the true tenets of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while those at the helms of affairs have also jettisoned true democracy and the principles which the party and its heroes stand for.

He urged party faithful and stakeholders not to be disturbed but work in unison for the success of Adeoti in Saturday’s primaries.