Gunfire around the convoy of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke should not be written off as another political clash.
The incident in Osogbo, coming just days after Adeleke’s victory in the governorship election, raises serious questions about security, accountability and the growing willingness of armed groups to use violence in public spaces.
The Osun State Police Command has said its preliminary findings do not point directly to an assassination attempt against the governor. Instead, police reportedly believe the confrontation was connected to suspected cult members allegedly trying to reach music star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido.
According to the police account, the situation escalated and gunfire erupted around the governor’s convoy.
Whatever triggered the confrontation, firing weapons near a governor’s convoy is unacceptable.
A governor’s convoy is not simply a group of vehicles moving through the streets. It represents the authority of the state. Anyone willing to open fire in or around such a convoy displays a troubling disregard for both public safety and the law.
And there is a human cost.
A 60-year-old man, Tajudeen Yusuf, was reportedly shot dead in the Itaolokan area of Osogbo as the suspects fled the scene.
This cannot be treated as an ordinary street fight
Authorities should resist any attempt to reduce the incident to a confrontation between rival groups.
The central questions are much bigger:
- Who organised the confrontation?
- Who possessed and fired the weapons?
- What triggered the violence?
- Was anyone deliberately targeted?
- Were the suspects acting alone?
- Who supplied or facilitated access to the weapons?
- Were there people behind the scenes directing the operation?
An effective investigation must pursue more than the individuals who pulled the triggers. Anyone who planned, financed, encouraged, equipped or otherwise enabled the violence should face investigation and, where the evidence supports it, prosecution.
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Evidence must lead the investigation
The police should make full use of every credible source of evidence available.
That includes CCTV and other video recordings, eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, intelligence reports and ballistic analysis where applicable.
The public needs facts. It does not need competing narratives that harden into accepted versions of events before investigators have completed their work.
The reported police conclusion that Davido was the intended target also deserves careful scrutiny.
If investigators establish that he was targeted, the next questions become unavoidable: Why him? Who wanted to harm him? Was the confrontation planned? And were there earlier threats or intelligence that could have prevented it?
That possibility should be investigated thoroughly rather than used as a convenient endpoint.
Osun cannot afford another cycle of violence
The timing makes the incident particularly concerning.
Osun has already experienced episodes of political tension and violence surrounding the election period. A fresh incident involving firearms, a governor’s convoy and a fatality should therefore trigger heightened vigilance from security agencies and political leaders.
An election victory must not become the starting point for another round of intimidation and violence.
Democracy depends on the ability of citizens, public officials and political opponents to operate without fear of armed retaliation. The same principle applies to celebrities, business owners and ordinary residents.
The police must act decisively
The Nigeria Police Force should conduct a thorough, independent and transparent investigation and identify everyone responsible for the violence.
Those against whom sufficient evidence is established should be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with Nigerian law.
Just as importantly, the investigation should establish the full chain of events—not merely identify the people who were physically present when the shooting occurred.
This incident is a warning.
It should not disappear into the long list of unresolved security cases that generate headlines for a few days and then fade from public attention.
The perpetrators must be identified. The facts must be established. The innocent must not be wrongly accused. And where guilt is proven, justice must follow.
Osun deserves nothing less.