Manhunt Widens in Osun Killing: Alowonle, Others Now on Police Watchlist

The police investigation into the killing of Ademola Adeleke’s aide in Ile-Ife has taken a new turn.

Nurudeen Alowonle and other people accused of involvement are now on the Osun State Police Command’s watchlist.

But there has been no arrest. That distinction is important.

The police say they are still examining the level of involvement of everyone whose name has surfaced in connection with the killing.

Olalekan Oyeyemi, popularly known as Emir Ajagungbade, was shot dead on Sunday, September 13, during violence around Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife.

He was an associate of Governor Ademola Adeleke and a chieftain of the Accord Party in Osun.

Police are watching, not yet charging

Osun Police spokesman, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed that no arrest had been made when asked about the investigation.

He said those being accused are under police watch while investigators determine their individual roles.

That includes Alowonle, a former chairman of the Osun State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers. Police say they are looking at the level of involvement of everyone being mentioned in connection with the killing.

Alowonle has denied involvement in the killing.

That denial means the allegation remains an allegation until investigators establish otherwise.

What happened at the motor park?

Oyeyemi was killed amid a long-running dispute over control of motor parks in Osun.

Reports indicate that tension had developed between rival groups over the leadership of the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife.

Oyeyemi and members of his group were reportedly at the park when violence erupted. He was shot during the confrontation.

The violence reportedly spread to other areas, including Sabo and Lagere, creating panic among residents and businesses.

The police initially received a report concerning an incident around Energy Filling Station before deploying officers to secure the area and begin investigations.

Adeleke has already taken political action

The killing has also produced an immediate response from the state government. Governor Adeleke ordered the Commissioner of Police to arrest those responsible.

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He also directed rival groups involved in the motor park dispute to leave parks and garages across the state.

More significantly, the governor announced plans to reintroduce a Park Management System to regulate motor parks and restore order.

He said there would be no sacred cows in the investigation. That decision could have consequences beyond this particular killing.

For years, disputes around motor parks and transport unions have carried political undertones across Nigeria.

Control of a motor park can mean control of money, influence, vehicles and a large network of people.

When those interests collide, a local union dispute can quickly become a security problem.

The police now face the bigger test

The immediate task is to find out who pulled the trigger. The bigger task is to establish who planned, encouraged, financed or facilitated the violence, if investigators find that such wider involvement existed.

That requires evidence.It also requires the police to resist political pressure from all sides. The fact that someone’s name appears on a watchlist does not make that person guilty.

Equally, political connections must not become a shield against investigation.

The public will therefore be watching what happens next. Will those being investigated be questioned? Will evidence emerge? Will arrests follow? Will anyone eventually face prosecution?

Or will the case become another unresolved episode in Nigeria’s long history of politically connected violence?

ValidViewNetwork reports that the Osun Police Command has moved from simply announcing an investigation to actively monitoring people accused of involvement in the killing of Olalekan Oyeyemi.

But the command has made one thing clear: no arrest has been made yet. The next stage must therefore be about evidence, not rumours.

Alowonle and everyone else named in the investigation deserve due process. The family of Oyeyemi, meanwhile, deserves something equally important: a police investigation that eventually tells them who killed their relative and why.