From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Osun State government has condemned the purported shooting of the Chairman of the Osun Transport Management System, Iyanda Alowonle, by the police.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, on Tuesday evening, said “the shooting to near death in police custody of Alowonle over a domestic matter” is condemnable.
According to the statement, Alowonle is presently on life support in the Intensive Care Unit of the Osun State Teaching Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound in the abdomen while in police custody in Osogbo.
The police had accused Alowonle of alleged murder, malicious damage, and gun running, claiming that he engaged the police in a gun duel during an attempt to arrest him, which led to the injury.
But the government said, “Video clips of Alowonle in handcuffs and under interrogation, circulating in the media, dispelled any excuse that the park chairman was trying to escape.
“The fact that he was shot in the abdomen, as confirmed by video from his hospital bed, proves that he was shot at close range with intent to eliminate him.”
“Interactions between the Special Adviser on Security Matters to the State Governor, Mr Samuel Ojo, and the Head of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Moses Lohor, provided direct proof that the incident was premeditated to murder Mr Alowonle.”
“We also note that the issue that generated the purported arrest was a civil matter, not criminally related, and did not warrant the involvement of Mr Moses Lohor, the Head of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, except for the repeated pattern of police harassment of officials of the state government on partisan motivations.”
“The programmed attempted murder of Mr Alowonle is just one in a series of shootings and attacks on officials of the state by the head of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, who regularly acts with impunity and has not hidden his vow to eliminate supporters of the state government.”
“We call for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Mr Moses Lohor, the Head of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, for his wilful act of attempted murder.”
“We call on the Inspector General of Police to rise to the occasion and abandon any signal that may portray him as acting against Osun’s peace and stability,” Alimi added.