Ikire killings: Oyewumi demands independent probe, rejects police account

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

The Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Lere Oyewumi, has called for an independent investigation into the killing of four people at Naira and Kobo Junction, Ikire.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Friday, Oyewumi, a community leader in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State, rejected the police account of the incident, describing the investigation as one-sided.

He alleged that people who were present during the incident were not allowed to give their accounts before the police reached its conclusion, and accused the authorities of attempting to exonerate police officers allegedly involved in the killings.

“We are here to set the records straight and to vehemently reject the police account, which blamed the victims and whitewashed the aggressors. We watched the police version with sadness, and we reject in totality the attempt to twist the facts of the incident in a bid to exonerate the police officers who are involved in the fatal extrajudicial killings,” Oyewumi said.

He questioned the circumstances surrounding the presence of the divisional police officer and his men at the Naira and Kobo garage, alleging that the park was peaceful before the incident. He also questioned how unarmed civilians could have disarmed fully armed policemen.

Oyewumi further alleged that the police had not conducted a proper investigation, insisting that the alleged culpability of the DPO and his men could not be swept under the carpet.

The senator also rejected what he described as attempts to link him to the incident, saying his intervention was aimed at preventing the situation from escalating into communal violence.

He called for an independent investigation and urged the Osun State Government to fast-track the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the killings and related issues. Oyewumi also demanded justice for those killed and wounded.