Adegboyega Oyetola, governor of Osun State, has condemned the shooting of Toba Adedeji, The Nation Newspaper reporter, and another citizen by some trigger-happy police officers at Olaiya, Osogbo, the state capital, on Tuesday.
Adedeji and the yet-to-be-identified citizen were reportedly shot by some overzealous policemen who were trying to disperse a group of people who had gathered to mourn the death of Abiola Afolabi, who was allegedly killed by police officers last month.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Ismail Omipidan, Governor Oyetola said the shooting at unarmed citizens was unacceptable, irresponsible and condemnable, adding that the incident could have been avoided.
He said it was even more unfortunate that the incident occurred while the citizens were mourning the death of a loved one.
According to Oyetola, such an unlawful act by the police could aggravate an already tense situation and lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state. He, therefore, called for a thorough investigation of the incident, with a view to ensuring that the culprits are dealt with in accordance with the law.
Read also: #EndSARS: Osun to compensate victims of police brutality
“Shooting at journalists and unarmed citizens is unacceptable, irresponsible and condemnable. The police officers have no justification for this unfortunate and unlawful act. They could have employed other means rather than resorting to deadly force to disperse the group.
“The frequency of these unfortunate and avoidable provocative incidents is a source of concern to us, as a government. I have, therefore, directed the state commissioner of police to investigate the shooting incident and ensure that the officers involved are identified and punished in accordance with extant regulations and law.
“We must ensure that this kind of sad and barbaric incident does not occur again in our state.
