By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
THE death toll from a brutal spate of violence linked to a suspected transport union feud in Osogbo has risen to three, with police yet to make any arrests.
The bloodshed began with the fatal shooting of Kazeem Oyebamiji, a personal assistant to a prominent chieftain within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kazeem Oyewale (known as Asiri Eniba).
A second motorcyclist narrowly escaped the same attack with machete wounds.
On Monday, the violence escalated in a suspected reprisal. Armed men, reportedly travelling in a Hilux van and a Camry car, stormed a part of the state capital, opening fire indiscriminately.
One of the latest victims, Abiodun Olanipekun, was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
According to his aunt, Afon Oluwafunke, the 26-year-old had merely stepped out to buy cassava flakes (garri) for supper and was chatting with a friend about potential work the next day when the gunmen arrived.
“They parked aggressively, came down and shouted ‘what are you doing there!’ That’s how they started shooting,” Oluwafunke recounted. “Biodun fell on his friend as they tried to escape. The bullet met him on the neck and back.”
Olanipekun was rushed to the UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, where he later succumbed to a spinal injury and respiratory failure caused by the gunshot, his death certificate confirms.
While the police confirmed the incidents, the force’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, stated no arrests had been made.
He also denied official knowledge of any reprisal attack, contradicting eyewitness accounts and the growing public alarm over the syndicate-linked violence.
The community remains on edge, with residents calling for urgent police intervention to prevent further escalation.
The NURTW, a powerful and often fractious union in Nigerian transport, has long been associated with violent rivalries for control of lucrative motor parks and routes.
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