Political violence flared in Osun State on Saturday, 27 June, when suspected political thugs drove into the Oluode-Aranyin community and opened fire on residents, leaving a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a gunshot wound to the leg.
The attackers arrived in an unmarked brown Sienna vehicle and began shooting into the air without warning. Residents scattered in panic as the gunmen moved through the area, and it was during that desperate scramble that Taofeek Mustapha, a known APC figure in the community, was struck.
Mustapha later recounted what happened in his own words: “I put on the AMBO crested cap when the shooting occurred. Everyone ran to safety, and they pursued me because I was wearing the APC candidate cap. I did not wait, but was shot. I cried for help before they drove back into the vehicle and drove away.” His account makes clear that the targeting was deliberate — his party-branded cap appears to have marked him out.
A local witness confirmed the broad outline of events, describing how the assailants fired sporadically before retreating into their vehicle and speeding off. No arrests had been announced at the time of reporting.
Abiodun Ojelabi, spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, confirmed that operatives had launched an investigation into the attack. He also disclosed a separate but related development: two residents who had been kidnapped in Ilesa by suspected political thugs were rescued around the same time.
Taken together, the two incidents paint a troubling picture of organised political intimidation across Osun State. The use of unmarked vehicles, the brazen daylight shooting and the targeted nature of the attack on a party member all suggest a level of coordination that demands a serious and transparent response from the authorities — not merely an investigation announcement.