Osun Shooting: Emir buried as police recover second corpse

The Osun State Police Command has recovered another corpse following Sunday’s shooting at the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, bringing the number of reported fatalities linked to the incident to two.

The development was disclosed on Monday by the command’s spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, as the state continued investigations into the violence that erupted at the motor park.

Meanwhile, the remains of Olalekan Oyeyemi, an Osun Accord chieftain popularly known as ‘Emir Ajagungbade’, were buried at his newly completed residence in the Agunbelewo area of Osogbo.

Traditionalists conducted the interment rites in the presence of close family members and priests, while associates of the deceased who accompanied his remains from the Osun State University Teaching Hospital (UNIOSUNTH) waited outside the premises.

Oyeyemi was allegedly shot dead on Sunday during a clash involving him and a group led by another National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) leader known as Sibi at the Mayfair Motor Park.

A video circulated on social media after the incident showed Oyeyemi lying face down in a pool of blood inside a vehicle.

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, confirmed Oyeyemi’s death in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, and directed the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Zungura, to identify and arrest those responsible.

The incident has also been linked to a dispute over plans to install Oyeyemi as the next Osun State chairman of the NURTW.

Giving an update on Monday, police spokesperson Ojelabi said the motor park had been shut following the governor’s directive.

“The governor has decided that the park should not operate. The park has not been operating,” Ojelabi said.

He added that police had recovered another corpse from the vicinity of the park and deposited it at a morgue.

“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for more investigation,” the police spokesperson said.

Ojelabi urged people being mentioned in connection with the incident to report themselves to the police rather than use social media to defend themselves.

“The Commissioner of Police has promised that all those involved will be apprehended and face the law, irrespective of who they are,” he said.

Before Oyeyemi’s remains were released by the hospital, suspected hoodlums described as associates of the deceased reportedly attacked two hospital workers after discovering that the workers were recording them on their phones.

Additional police vehicles later arrived at the hospital premises, according to observations, helping to restore normalcy at the facility.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Sesan Oyedele, also denied claims that he had summoned NURTW leaders to his Modakeke residence to endorse Oyeyemi as the union’s next state chairman, saying the leaders had instead approached him to seek his support.

“They came around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. I told them I would present their request to the governor and other officials,” he said.

He said he learnt of Oyeyemi’s killing about two hours after the group left his residence.