OSOGBO, Nigeria – Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, condemned escalating post-election violence in Osun on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, following an attack in Ikire that left two civilians dead and two police officers injured.
In a statement released on Tuesday by his Special Adviser, Dr Bolaji Akinola, Okay News reports that Oyetola described the attacks on citizens across the state as a grave assault on the peace, heritage, and democratic values of the people. He stressed that no political ambition, local interest, or commercial consideration could justify the loss of human lives, urging all stakeholders to reject violence and embrace dialogue.
“Politics must be a vehicle for development, not a catalyst for bloodshed,” he said. Expressing his deepest condolences to the families of those killed, Oyetola called on the Osun Police Command and other security agencies to deploy adequate personnel to volatile locations, reclaim public spaces from hoodlums, and ensure that those responsible for the killings were swiftly apprehended while appealing to residents to prioritize peace.
The Osun Police Command stated that two civilians were killed and two of its officers sustained serious injuries during an attack by suspected political thugs in Ikire, located within Irewole Local Government Area. A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, on Tuesday in Osogbo said unidentified assailants attacked a police patrol team attached to the Ikire Division at about 11 a.m. WAT on Monday along the Ife-Ibadan Expressway.
The patrol team, accompanied by the Divisional Police Officer of the Ikire Division, was responding to a distress call over the alleged abduction of Sunkanmi, whose surname was unknown. Upon arrival at the location, officers came under a sudden and unprovoked attack by a group of unidentified hoodlums who opened fire while the officers were inside their operational vehicle and succeeded in snatching one AK-47 service rifle.
“The hoodlums used the stolen weapon to fire indiscriminately, resulting in the tragic loss of two innocent civilians,” Ojelabi said. The police added that steps are being taken to recover the stolen rifle and apprehend those responsible for the attack.
