Hundreds of Osun State residents trooped out en-mass on Tuesday, to join members of Civil Societies Coalition for Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO) who led a protest against continuation of Rauf Aregbesola in office as the state governor.
However, the peaceful rally was disrupted by thugs popularly known as Aregbesola’s State Boys who attacked the protesters at Igbonna market, along Obafemi Awolowo way.
The thugs who attacked the protesters with several types of weapons including guns, cutlasses, knives, charms and cudgels shot sporadically at the protesters, a situation that forced many of them to scamper for safety.
In the process, several people particularly members on the Nigerian Union of Pensioners were brutally attacked and beaten up by the thugs.
Reports had it that over 20 of the injured persons were currently receiving treating at a private clinic as all the public hospitals in the state had been under lock in the last six weeks due to workers’ strike.
Although, there were heavy presence of security agents including the Nigeria Police and the State Security Service (SSS) parading the streets with armoured tanks and other patrol vehicles, the attackers led by known All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the state, there was no report of any arrest made till the time of filling this report.
The rally had kicked off at Ayetoro junction of the state capital and was billed to be led through Igbonna, Olonkoro, Ajegunle, Old-Garage, Ile-Epo Olaiya, Fakunle, Ogo-Oluwa, Onward area and to the State House of Assembly’s complex at Abere.
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions such as “Slava/Osinbajo returns our money”, “Aregbesola: Stop receiving N500m monthly as security votes”, “Osun Assembly: Treat Justice Folahanmi’s petition”, “Our demand is that Aregbesola must go”, “Treat the petition not the petitioner”, “Aregbesola has destroyed Osun State” and so on.
The Chairman of CSCEO, Comrade Adeniyi Sulaiman Alimi who had earlier raised alarm that Aregbesola and his APC thugs were planning to disrupt the rally explained that the group would not relent in its protest until Aregbesola “is removed from office”.
“This is not a joke, it is a serious matter. Although, we are practicing democracy in Nigeria but in Osun we are under a demonic and oppressive rule. We need to save this state now. Everybody must be involved because under our nose, Aregbesola has completely destroyed this state.
“In this country, we fought the military to a standstill and in this case, we will continue with our mobilization from house to house, market to market, school to school until this repressive regime is booted out. “Our slogan is save our state, Aregbesola must go”, he stated.
He thanked hundreds of Osun residents, “Who joined this successful rally with empty stomachs in spite all the threats since Monday evening. This is the will of the people and our strength cannot be undermined. We learnt that Aregbesola stationed some people to organise a counter-protest but how many are they?”
He called on security agents to fish out those involved, saying, “This is just the beginning of everything. We know many of them and we are going to report this appropriately”, while adding that, he would not want his members to take laws into their hands.
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