Gunshots, Teargas Rock Osun Motor Park as Thugs Defy Adeleke’s NURTW Suspension Order

Gunshots, Teargas Rock Osun Motor Park as Thugs Defy Adeleke's NURTW Suspension Order

Gunshots, Teargas Rock Osun Motor Park as Thugs Defy Adeleke’s NURTW Suspension Order

Gunshots and teargas were reported at the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Sunday as suspected thugs allegedly accompanied by armed police officers defied Governor Ademola Adeleke’s directive suspending all National Union of Road Transport Workers activities across the state, in a violent escalation that has raised serious security concerns less than three weeks before the August 15 governorship election.

Gunshots and teargas rocked the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Sunday as suspected thugs allegedly accompanied by armed police officers defied Governor Ademola Adeleke’s directive suspending all National Union of Road Transport Workers activities across the state. Multiple eyewitness accounts revealed that the suspected thugs, reportedly escorted by armed police personnel, stormed the park firing weapons and deploying teargas, forcing residents, traders, and motorists to flee for safety. A video obtained by SaharaReporters appeared to show police officers discharging firearms and using teargas during the incident at the motor park. Sources expressed deep concern that security personnel were allegedly working against the government’s efforts to restore peace, with one source lamenting that the governor’s order was to ensure normalcy was restored to the parks, yet the police that should be concerned about peace were now escorting thugs to go against the governor’s order, describing it as an unfortunate situation.

The situation escalated dramatically when personnel of the Nigerian Navy stationed in Ile-Ife reportedly intervened, responding to distress calls from Mayfair residents. According to sources, the naval personnel arrested five suspected thugs allegedly found in possession of pump-action guns after they took over the park. A source told SaharaReporters that after shootings to scare away people and harassing motorists, men of the Nigerian Navy at Ile-Ife intervened to stop the police-aided thugs from the invasion of the Mayfair Park and arrested four thugs with pump-action guns. In a stunning escalation, the Osun State Government alleged that police operatives attacked the Navy personnel to secure the release of the arrested suspects. According to an official statement from the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the Osun State Commissioner of Police contacted the Navy commandant demanding the release of the suspects. The commandant reportedly informed the CP that he needed to seek approval from higher authority before handing them over. The CP was said to be enraged and subsequently deployed four lorries of mobile policemen to attack the Navy personnel with teargas, rescuing the hoodlums. However, the police did not succeed in retrieving five pump-action rifles seized by the Navy from the suspects. Describing the incident as a bizarre situation and impunity carried too far, the government called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the diplomatic community to intervene. The government also called for a visa ban on any police official aiding political violence in Osun State.

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The latest violence comes only days after Governor Adeleke ordered the immediate suspension of all NURTW activities in motor parks across Osun State following recurring clashes linked to transport union operations. He also directed security agencies to arrest anyone operating in the name of the union while making it clear that commercial transport services should continue uninterrupted. The governor stated that he was directing the police and other security agencies to stop all activities of the union in all parks across the state, clarifying that he was not saying they should close the parks but that they should not allow anyone to operate in the parks in the name of the union, adding that anyone found contravening this order should be arrested for possible prosecution for disturbance of public peace. The Osun State Government later clarified that the suspension of activities did not amount to dissolving the state’s NURTW leadership, maintaining that Nurudeen Alowonle remained the substantive chairman of the union in the state. The government alleged that a group led by Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, had wrongly interpreted the suspension as a dissolution and claimed there was a vacuum to justify inaugurating a caretaker committee. The government further directed security agencies to remove Asiri Eniba and his supporters from motor parks across the state, stating he had no legal basis to be there in all ramifications.

The fresh confrontation also followed Saturday’s announcement by the newly inaugurated NURTW chairman, Kazeem Oyewale, that union activities had resumed in motor parks despite the government’s directive. Oyewale said the new executives had been inaugurated in Abuja and appealed to residents not to associate union members with violence, assuring the people of Osun State that there was no longer any violence and that all issues in motor parks had been resolved. Governor Adeleke had earlier condemned repeated shootings around motor parks in Osogbo and accused individuals allegedly accompanied by police officers of disrupting public peace. He said he had reported the matter to the Inspector-General of Police and other security chiefs while demanding the arrest of Asiri Eniba over what he described as open defiance of public security laws. The crisis comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election, which is considered a crucial test of Nigeria’s democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission has identified 385 flashpoints and 200 difficult terrains across the state, with concerns over the high risk of kidnapping and banditry in parts of the state. The Imole Campaign Council has called on the Federal Government and INEC to ensure a free, fair, and credible poll, describing the election as a major assessment of the integrity of INEC, the Nigeria Police Force, and other institutions responsible for safeguarding the electoral process. With less than three weeks until the election, stakeholders have called on security agencies and political parties to ensure a peaceful and credible election, warning that violence must not be allowed to triumph over the will of the people.