Anxiety & fear in Osun as DSS operatives fire Gunshots!

Panic gripped residents of Osun State on
Wednesday when operatives of the
Department of State Service in about
50
Toyota pickup vehicles fired into the air as
their convoy rode through the capital city.
The officials, some of whom wore masks,
were fully armed and were conveyed round
Osogbo in the siren-blaring vehicles.
They were also sighted in Iwo and
surrounding communities of Osogbo.
Our correspondent observed that some of
operatives, who sat on the roofs of the
vehicles, fired gunshots into the air, thereby
causing fear among road users.
Dressed in black T-shirts, black trousers with
caps and fully armed, the officials drove
from their office along Gbongan-Osogbo Road
through Olaiya Junction to Oke-Fia.
A source disclosed that the operatives were
deployed from Abuja.
Motorists and ‘okada’ riders hurriedly parked
their vehicles while the armed officials took
over the roads and just as pedestrians also
abandoned the roads.
The Director of the DSS in Osun State, Mr.
Andrew Iorkyar, when contacted by our
correspondent on the telephone said that the
officials were deployed in the state for the
purpose of the August 9 governorship
election.
He said, “They are our men. They are
patrolling round to familiarise themselves
with the terrain. They are in the state to
protect law-abiding people. They are not
deployed to terrorise anybody.
“You know that there are allegations and
counter-allegations of stock piling or arms by
some politicians. We don’t want any
breakdown of law and order. So, our men are
in the state to ensure peace.”
Asked why the officials were shooting into
the air, Iorkyar said he was not aware of that
and he promised to find out.
He urged the people of the state not to
hesitate to make useful information available
to the service.
The Special Adviser to Governor Rauf
Aregbesola on Security Matters, Mr. Amos
Adekunle, when contacted on the telephone
by our correspondent condemned the
incident, describing it as intimidation. Some
residents who spoke to our correspondent
condemned the shooting, saying it was not
necessary because there was no crisis that
warranted it.
The All Progressives Congress described the
shooting as a ploy to scare voters away from
coming out to vote.
The Director of Publicity, Research and
Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, who spoke with
one of our correspondents in a telephone
interview, said the incident was totally
uncalled for, adding that it left people
running helter-skelter.
Oyatomi, who also issued a statement on
Wednesday, asked the people not to be
intimidated by security presence in the state.
He said, “The incident was unwarranted
because there was no riot. They came from
Abere end; they passed though Olosan to
Olaiya and Oke-Fia thence to Ilobu. They
would move a few meters and open fire.
People began to run helter-skelter. If this is
how the Peoples Democratic Party thinks it
would capture Osun, they are joking because
the people’s wish can never subverted.
“No citizens should be scared or should run
away when they see and or hear gunshots
from security people because they have
committed no crime. Everybody should go
about their businesses and ignore them. A
country in which the security operatives are
the ones doing what we are experiencing to
citizens in Osun, calls for the gravest
concern.”