Political violence has resurfaced in Osun State ahead of the August 15 governorship election, after gunmen opened fire during an All Progressives Congress rally in Ilesa on Saturday, leaving at least three people injured and triggering fresh accusations between the ruling Accord Party and the opposition APC.

According to the Osun State Police Command, the shooting occurred while APC supporters were holding a rally in the Ilesa metropolis. Police say a vehicle bearing the registration number OSHA04 was parked near the rally, and persons identified as personnel of the Osun State Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun, emerged from it and opened sporadic gunfire, sending residents and political supporters scampering for safety.

Three people were struck by bullets, identified as Tobi Ilesanmi, Wasiu Alanide and Aderemi Adedeji, all of whom were rushed to hospital for treatment. Among the injured was a 14-year-old boy who, according to an eyewitness, was standing at his mother’s shop and had no involvement in the political gathering when a stray bullet struck him in the thigh.

In the aftermath, some APC supporters gave chase to the fleeing suspects, catching a number of them. Police say one of the men apprehended, believed to be an Amotekun operative, pulled out a knife and attempted to stab his pursuers in a bid to escape. Officers later intercepted a white Lexus linked to the incident and arrested two occupants, one of whom was identified as the Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Mayowa Adejoorin.

The arrest has drawn a sharp reaction from the Imole Campaign Council, the group leading Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid, which described the development as politically motivated.

The council’s spokesperson accused the police of a troubling pattern in which prominent Accord Party leaders and supporters in Ijesaland are being picked up on what he called questionable allegations, and called on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene and investigate what he characterised as bias against the Accord Party at a critical point in the campaign.

The APC, on its part, issued its own statement accusing the Accord Party of instigating the violence at the rally, while the Accord Party countered that its office and campaign billboards in the town had earlier been vandalised by APC supporters.

The Accord Party further alleged that the APC leadership in the state was harbouring individuals capable of manipulating the electoral commission’s digital systems at a hotel in Osogbo, a claim the APC has firmly denied. As of the time of filing, no fatalities had been recorded from the shooting, and investigations into the incident remain ongoing.