My ordeal in the hands of Oyinlola’s men, by Aregbesola
By Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo 26/05/2011 01:03:00
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Aregbesola

Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday narrated his ordeal in the hands of his predecessor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, at the public sitting of the Osun State Truth and Reconcilation Commission.









Chairman of the eight-man panel Justice Samson Uwaifo chided Oyinlola for refusing to appear before the commission to testify on series of allegations bordering on human right abuses against him.

Aregbesola accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of imposing his "agents on the Southwest through do or die politics."

Describing Obasanjo as "irresponsible, reckless and intolerant," Aregbesola said: "it is madness for any political leader to sponsor or engineer violence of any kind against the people."

He said Oyinlola lacks respect for humanity and is intolerant of opposition, which is lawful in a democracy and should be allowed.

Aregbesola narrated his travails from the moment he began consulting leaders across the 30 local governments in 2005 on his plan to contest the 2007 Governorship Election.

He said series of coordinated and state-sponsored attacks were launched against him and his supporters.

Aregbesola said: "My movement became a subject of intensive surveillance, while unfriendly attacks were launched at my person physically, psychologically and verbally. They include the following:

"April 16, 2005: The failed attempt to abort the launch of Oranmiyan, our campaign organisation in Osogbo, the state capital. The venue was fixed for Osogbo Township Stadium, but as soon as our programmes were put in place, the Oyinlola government deployed brute force, through the police, to stop the event from taking place.

"Many of our supporters were prevented from entering Osogbo. As the news spread rapidly, more people amassed for the programme and a major confrontation almost ensued.

"As the leader of the movement, I was to be prevented from entering Osogbo. But for a smart decoy, the police, acting on Oyinlola’s orders, would have arrested me as soon as I entered Osogbo. The Oyinlola-led administration undeservedly aborted our rally. Were it not for sheer determination, our democratic rights would have been curtailed under the guise of state security."

Aregbesola also testified that opposition members were verbal assaulted during Oyinlola’s administration, saying: "it is important to call your attention to the undignified use of language by Oyinlola since he became Governor in 2003. His conduct and utterances can easily provoke even the docile to anger and revolt.

"Take for example our campaign organisation, Oranmiyan, which means ‘I am triumphant’ in english. Oyinlola, on the State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) network, referred to us as ‘Oranmiran,’ meaning ‘another calamity.’

"While you may want to consider this as a simple inter-play of politics and sarcasm, it was an unrefined use of an unbecoming one-liner laced with crude abuse of the cultural heritage of our people by a man, who was supposed to be the epitome of cultural strength of the people of Osun State.



"Oyinlola’s attempt to vulgarise it was an attempt in self-immolation. The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade II, chided him for that.

"Oyinlola also punned the name of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate in the rigged 2004 local government election in Iwo, Alhaji Razaak Salinsile, as ‘Sanasile,’ meaning ‘set the house on fire,’ a coinage that gave an entirely different meaning to the cherished Yoruba name.

"There are several instances showing that Oyinlola had no respect for other people, or in any case, not sensitive enough to their feelings. "Oyinlola was clearly intolerant of the opposition, which in a democracy is lawfully nurtured and allowed to fledge in the overall interest of the governed."

Aregbesola mentioned the assassination of Sulaimon Hassan-Olakojo, on May 16, 2005, a major financier of his campaign. He also spoke on the first attempt on his life on May 25, 2005, when his friends organised a birthday rally at an open ground opposite International Breweries, Ilesa, to commemorate his 48th birthday.

Aregbesola said: "As we were going to the venue in a convoy, Wale Oni, a well known rough neck on Oyinlola’s pay roll and ex-Deputy Governor Erelu Olusola Obada led a gang of dare-devil men, wielding guns, pick axes and other deadly weapons and attacked our convoy.

"Using the axes, the thugs ripped off a section of my campaign bus at the exact side I used to sit. The clear intention of the murderous gang was to scythe me to death.

"When they discovered I was not on the bus, the thugs went berserk and pounced on occupants of the vehicle.

"The leader of the gang, Oni, was arrested and handed over to the police. He was released shortly after on the order of Erelu Obada. Needless to say Oni has since then become the ‘Lord of the Manor’ at his Irojo Quarters residence in Ilesa. He is untouchable, feared, loathed, ruthless and above the law. Not a whimper of this dastardly act was heard again."

On Oroki Day, 2006, Aregbesola testified that another attempt was made to assassinate him.

He said: "The Osogbo Progressive Union (OPU), under the leadership of Alhaji Adekilekun Badmus, invited me as a Special Guest of Honour to the 2006 edition of Osogbo Oroki Day. Oyinlola’s security details prevented me from taking my seat. I decided to leave, but on my way to my car, the security details opened fire on me. My Mercedes Benz jeep was hit with several bullets, fired by professionally trained snipers.

"Miraculously, I managed to escape, but my supporters were not so lucky as they were stripped naked, badly assaulted and attacked by thugs under the notorious banner of "14 MOPOL," trained and led by Liadi Gbadamosi, known to be close to Oyinlola.

"Within hours of the incident, Police Commissioner Sulaimon Fakai appended his signature to a full page advert sponsored by Oyinlola and published in all national newspapers the following day, accusing me of sponsoring the attack. The Police poured unmerited and unprofessional invectives on me as he heaped all blames on me for the attack which I suffered.

"We have indestructible video evidence to tell the story as it was. From the running of events under Oyinlola’s scheme, the stage was set to confine me, my campaign organisation and my party into the dungeon.

"His utterances and barefaced lies after the botched assassination attempt fell flat at the production of the video recording of the event. Oyinlola watched how his snipers rained bullets on my car, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs descend heavily on branded Oranmiyan vehicles.

"They yanked off doors, smashing glasses and windscreens, during the Oroki Day crisis. As if that was not enough, Oyinlola sent a falsely grounded petition to the Police, which served as the basis for my arrest and incarceration for three weeks by men of the Lagos State Police Command.

"Freedom did not come my way until I approached a Lagos High Court, which ruled in my favour and awarded a N5 million cost against the police for illegal arrest and detention. It is instructive to note that in flagrant disregard for the Rule of Law, the cost has not been paid till now."

Aregbesola spoke about the vandalisation of his campaign billboards since 2006 and the attack on his father’s house in Ilesa on March 26, 2007.

He narrated how his octogenarian mother was forced to leave Ilesa for Lagos.

Aregbesola said: "Oyinlola and the PDP were unrelenting in their onslaught against me and members of my family. My mother is a kola nut trader at the popular but ancient Atakunmosa market. Prior to this time, the old woman had spent her entire adult life in Ilesa, never residing outside the ancient city. The story changed when I decided to engage in a lawful democratic contest for the governorship seat.

"Realising that her life was under threat, my mother had to forcefully run for her dear life by relocating to Lagos."

Oyinlola,Acting PDP State Chairman Sunday Ojo-Williams and former Registrar of the Osun State High Court, now Judge, Mrs. Olamide Oloyede, failed to apply before the panel.

A mild drama played out when Oyinlola’s chief driver, Rasaq Oyetunji, was confronted with the video clip of the attack on Aregbesola during the Oroki Day celebration.

Oyetunji denied involvement in the attack, saying: "I was never a thug, and if there is any video clip that shows where I stoned Aregbesola during Oroki Day celebration, bring it out."

People started laughing when they sighted Oyetunji in the 30 minutes video clip stoning Aregbesola’s convoy and instigating people to attack his supporters. In another petition, Oyetunji, Yaya Muthairu and others were accused of burning Owonikoko House in Oba- Ile.

The petitioner, Hon. Kadri Owoniko, alleged that Oyetunji led thugs to burn his 18-room bungalow in Oba-Ile on September 11, 2007.

Owonikoko said after his house was burnt, the Officer in Charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, simply identified as Jude, threatened to kill him if he did not leave the town.

He said he was later arrested on Oyetunji’s order and remanded in prison custody for two months along with the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Alhaji Sule Aderemi; among others.

Owonikokok said he was forced to leave Osogbo in 2007 and only returned when Aregbesola was declared Governor last year November.

The petitioner’s counsel, Yinka Okedara, tendered the photographs and the video clip of the burnt house, which was shown publicly.








Wife of the petitioner, Mrs. Sherifat Owoniko, testified that she saw Oyetunji, Muthairu and others burning the house and reported them to the police, who arrested some of them. But she said they were later released.