Violence as voter registration begins in Osun

The continuous voters registration
exercise by the Independent National
Electoral Commission which started in
Osun State on Wednesday was marred
with violence in some parts of the state.
The exercise is part of the preparations
of the electoral body for the conduct of
the August 9 governorship election
coming up in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that there
were cases of attacks in Ife and Ilesa as
thugs unleashed violence on some
people.
Also, some of those who turned out for
the registration exercise could not be
attended to because some of the direct
data capture machines used for the
registration were faulty.
It was not clear who started the
violence but the ruling All Progressives
Congress in the state and the Peoples
Democratic Party accused each other of
sponsoring the violence.
The Director of Publicity, Research and
Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr.
Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement said that
some thugs allegedly led by some
leaders of the PDP unleashed terror on
some of his party members and loyalists
at Ile Ife.
One of the prominent governorship
aspirants of the PDP, Senator Iyiola
Omisore, is from Ile Ife.
The statement reads, "We also bring to
the attention of the public and Prof.
Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman, the
acts of thuggery and brigandage being
perpetrated by some leaders and agents
of the PDP attacking registration centres
and maiming agents and supporters of
our party.
"In Ife East Local Government, some
PDP thugs moved round the entire
registration centres and attacked
everybody on sight. They were in
Okerewe Ward 1 and 2 where our party
agents and many of our supporters were
wounded. A number of them have been
rushed to the hospital for medical
attention.
"They particularly went to No 1,
Mosalasi Lane, Itakogun, Ile-Ife, where
they attacked the mother of the
Executive Secretary of Ife East Local
Government and some other people."
But the Chairman of the PDP in the
state, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, in an
interview with journalists said that four
members of the PDP were shot at
Atakumosa while eight were brutalised
by some thugs allegedly hired by the
ruling party.
He said that APC thugs led by some of
the party leaders went round and
chased away known members of the
PDP from registration units. Governor
Rauf Aregbesola is an indigene of Ilesa
where the attack allegedly took place.
Olaoluwa said, "We have been saying it
that the APC is a violent party. They
shot four of our people today and
brutalised eight others. Some of the
victims were taken to the hospital for
treatment.
" The party is jittery because they know
that they are not wanted in Osun State.
Osun belongs to the PDP and we are
going to flush them out this August."
The PDP chairman in Osun East
Senatorial District, Mr. Joshua Ogunleye,
also said that some known APC thugs
fired several gun shots at Ifewara and
Okebode to scare people away from the
registration exercise.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the
state, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, when
contacted said that he would find out
and call back. She did not call back as of
the time of filing this report.