From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Osun Masterminds (TOM) has expressed fear over the spate of insecurity as the House of Assembly election holds in Osun State on Saturday.
The group at its monthly state of the state address expressed concern over the open threat by politicians, and killings at Ilesa East during the presidential and National Assembly elections, submitting that the state governor is not doing enough on security.
The Executive Director of TOM, Prof Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, noted that recent events show that political killings are on the rise in the state under Governor Ademola Adeleke.
“In Ilesa recently, and Ikire earlier, a total of three persons were reportedly killed and to date, there is no one being held accountable for their gruesome murder. These were according to reports, political killings.
“Fingers have been pointed in different directions, but we expected that by now, the state government should have taken serious actions in bringing the perpetrators to book if it is sincere about securing the state.
“We have also been inundated with reports of increased activities of miscreants and thugs in the State, purportedly with the backing of the government. We want to state that for whatsoever reason, the Adeleke government must not deliberately rear or pamper thugs at a time when insecurity is threatening the survival of the country itself.
“Government hobnobbing with miscreants and allowing them to have the freedom to operate in the state is an invitation to chaos in a society that needs peace to thrive,” he added.
However, the group commended the government of Adeleke for payment of modulated salary owed by former governor Rauf Aregbesola, remobilisation of contractors to the Osogbo-Ilaodo boundary road construction, and his intention to release retirement bond certificates to retirees who have been on the waiting list for a fairly long time.
The group scored Adeleke low on the refusal to make the outcome of his various committees known and failure to make open when the state account would be unfrozen since the governor declared it frozen upon his assumption of office.