From physical attacks to intimidation and killings, Nigeria’s political terrain is not new to electoral violence. A recent study shows that there were 344 incidents of election violence in the country between January 2022 and January 2023. Across the 36 states of the federation, Osun State had the highest number. FIJ’s ABIMBOLA ABATTA visited the state and spoke with some survivors of electoral violence.

The sound of gunshots echoed through the streets of Osogbo while 42-year-old Jimoh Tade (not real name) and other supporters of former governor Rauf Aregbesola held a state congress on October 16, 2021.

Two years later, Tade looked pensive as he spoke of the two bullet scars on his left forearm. He was caught up in the October shoot-out, and though he lives to tell the story, his scars are a daily reminder.

“I could have died, but God said my time had not come,” Tade told FIJ.

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Tade is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but he also belongs to a splinter group, The Osun Progressives (TOP). While TOP members are recognised as Aregbesola’s loyalists, the other APC members are supporters of Gboyega Oyetola, the immediate past governor.

TOP was launched by Aregbesola’s loyalists in the Osun APC. They felt isolated from party activities and governance and wanted to regain control of the party following the perceived rivalry between Oyetola and Aregbesola.

Aregbesola had introduced some policies during his tenure as Osun State Governor, but Oyetola reversed many of these policies to “fulfil the yearnings of Osun residents”.

SCARRED FOR LIFE

On that fateful day two years ago, the different supporters of both political leaders held their congresses simultaneously. Oyetola’s supporters were at the Osogbo stadium, while Aregbesola’s supporters gathered at an open space adjacent Ladsol Pure Water in Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo.

The congresses were held to elect new (or re-elect old) party officials such as the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary ahead of the following year’s governorship election.

At noon, some thugs shot at Aregbesola’s supporters, and while they scampered, some sustained injuries. Although no life was lost on that day, Tade was one of the injured.

“The bullet penetrated one end and came out through the other end of my arm. I used almost seven days at the hospital,” said Tade as he pointed at the bullet scars while reliving the incident.

THREATS, FEAR AND INDIFFERENT GOVERNMENT

When this reporter prodded him to know if his attacker was arrested, he responded in the negative. Then he explained that the government of the day could not have arrested one of its own.

“After I mentioned one of the attackers was responsible, I received a call from an unknown number. I can’t recall the exact day, but I reluctantly picked up the call out of fear,” he said.

“I denied it because I knew the kind of person he was. Also, I had to protect my wife and two children because anyone could attack them to get to me. Besides, they might trace me to my house.”

“Those who attacked us on that day did that to induce fear in us. They wanted to intimidate us, but I know that no one but God has the final say when it comes to the matter of life and death.

“Although my political participation has not really been affected, I have learnt to draw closer to God. Before I leave my house, I put my day in God’s hands through prayers.”

For 42-year-old Tade, there is a high chance of eradicating electoral violence if the government is indeed serious about it.

‘I WAS SO SCARED, SO I RAN AWAY’

“No one should die for politics.”

These were the words of Rasheedat Ayemi (not real name), another survivor of electoral violence. She was shot in the lap during the same 2021 attack that gave Tade the two scars on his arm.

Unlike Tade, she fled Osun State after the incident because of the fear of the unknown. Two years after, she has reservations about partaking in political activities.

“I had to run for my life. I was so scared because anything could have happened,” said Ayemi.

NO ARREST, NO JUSTICE

During the interview, this reporter perceived that Ayemi felt slighted because the attackers were not apprehended. She said that regardless of the faction in her party, the APC state government at the time should have taken a definite step to support its party members.

“The governor definitely heard about the incident, but he did nothing. That was a disgrace for me as an APC member.”

Although Ayemi still considers herself an APC member, she said she might likely not take part wholly in politics except justice prevailed.

“If the perpetrators are arrested, and if Oyetola himself does the needful, I may return to Osun and continue. In fact, my family members are no longer in support of my participation in politics because I could have died in 2021,” said Ayemi.

FIJ’s findings revealed that Kazeem Oyewale, also known as Asiri Eniba, chairman of the Osogbo branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), was likely one of those responsible for the 2021 attack. A Google search revealed that Eniba is a notorious political thug allegedly being used by the Osun APC.

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Ayemi said TOP leaders had attempted to secure everyone in a place, considering that the congress venue was jam-packed with party members roaming the vicinity.

“While I was outside with some other members, we saw the attackers coming. They were on the other lane adjacent the venue ground. Perhaps their intention was to scare us by shooting in the air and then go.”

But before Dolapo and others could say Jack, there was an uproar at the venue. Party members and other residents scampered.

“I tried to dodge, but it was pointless. I did not even know they shot at me. I just felt something heavy in my body; it was even those around me who drew my attention to the blood.”

She was rushed to a hospital in the Alekuwodo area of the state, but the doctor could not remove the bullet. She said she was later taken to a hospital in Ikire, where the bullet was removed some seven days later.

The incident was reported at the Ataoja Police Station and the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), but no arrest was made, FIJ learnt from Ayemi.

‘GOVERNOR OYETOLA SPONSORED THE ATTACK’

Ayemi accused ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola of sponsoring thugs to attack her and other supporters of Aregbesola.

“I know that it was the governor who sent them. If it was not the governor, how could someone shoot your party member and you’d never show any form of concern?”Ayemi asked.

“If the attack was sponsored by the opposition party, that would have been a different case. So it’s a big insult that my party attacked me. What if the bullet had hit me in the head? That would have been the end.”

When contacted for comments on the allegation, Ismail Omipidan, chief press secretary to ex-Governor Oyetola, did not answer his calls. He also did not respond to the message sent to him.

NO END TO ELECTORAL VIOLENCE TWO YEARS AFTER

On January 24, 2023, a violent attack erupted among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which resulted in the death of two PDP members.

While members of the two parties sustained varying degrees of injuries, they blamed each other for the attack.

FIJ gathered that Amidu Tadese, the APC senatorial candidate in Osun West; and Lere Oyewumi, the PDP senatorial candidate had fixed their campaign rallies on the same day.

Rahman Ismail, an APC chieftain who got injured in the attack, told FIJ that they had visited different wards during the course of the campaign without issue.

“On the 23 and 24 was the turn of Irewole and we were trying to go from one ward to the other,” he said.

Ismail said about five minutes into the opening prayers at Ward 9, which was the final ward to be visited on January 24, some guys were coming from the main road with guns, shooting guns radically into the air.

“We were surprised about what was happening as they kept on shooting and moving towards our direction. People asked that the programme be stopped when they saw that these guys were coming to us,” said Ismail.

“We weren’t fighting anyone but just holding meetings with our party members. When they got closer with guns, throwing stones and other things, we all scattered for the sake of our safety.”

When FIJ asked if he identified the men who shot at them, he said, “They were agents of the PDP senatorial candidate.”

‘VIOLENCE CREATES VOTER APATHY’

According to Ismail, electoral violence has raised a lot of concerns among residents. He noted that this kind of violence creates voter apathy when it persists.

“The electorate will be discouraged to come out because they know that their lives are not safe,” he said.

For this APC chieftain, the electorate can only be encouraged to vote if their safety is guaranteed. In the absence of such assurances, he said, nobody would want to vote and it would have a bad effect on the election.

“Election shouldn’t be a do or die affair. Everyone should be allowed to vote for the party of their choice. Nobody should be coaxed to go against their will.

“We did not go to Ikire for election but just to campaign. This is the period where candidates are allowed by law to go out and share their programmes with the public. How can somebody come from nowhere and throw stones, shoot guns? Nobody will wait.”

In Ismail’s opinion, electoral violence could be eradicated, but it would take time.

He stated that if Nigeria had a working government at the federal, state and local levels, as well as effective laws, violence during elections could be a thing of the past.

‘I GOT DRAGGED ON THE GROUND’

Another resident who survived the Ikire attack was Akinrole Oyedeji. He told FIJ that he was walking by the road in the Olorisa Oko area of the town when he saw the attackers.

He said there were over 50 of them on motorcycles, armed with sticks and guns.

“While they were on their bikes, they dragged me. I tried to run but I couldn’t,”he said.

“I was bruised all over my body. My body got swollen and I had severe body pains,” said Oyedeji.

This reporter asked if he could identify his attackers, but he refused to respond. He simply said the attackers belonged to different factions of a political party.

SEVERAL PDP MEMBERS ATTACKED

FIJ spoke with Oladele Bamiji, a media aide to Governor Adeleke, and he said that there had been several attacks on PDP members in the state. Although he could not give a definite number, he added that his party members had been attacked almost in all parts of the state.

“Supporters are being deliberately scared away by these people. There were times in the state capital, when there were political attacks led by the king of the road transport disguising himself as the head of road transport workers in the state then,” he said.

The head of road transport that Bamiji referred to was no other than Asiri Eniba. While he said that Eniba still moved freely without fear of being arrested, he said the police had arrested another notorious thug in Ede known as Rasheed Oko Ilu.

Rasheed had made a video bragging that he was a serial killer and would incite violence to sustain former Governor Oyetola’s administration. The police arrested him in August 2022.

On the Ikire attack that led to the death of two PDP members, he said thugs were mobilised to private homes of innocent people, where some were macheted to the extent that they couldn’t make it to the hospital.

He said one who made it alive to the hospital eventually died.

“That can’t be the type of democracy we crave in this 21st century. It doesn’t portray us well as an enlightened people and society,” said Bamiji.

Bamiji also told FIJ that he and others were waiting for the police to make an example out of those who perpetrated the Ikire violence.

FIJ obtained some gory pictures of the deceased persons with splatters of blood on their lifeless bodies.

Responding to the APC chieftain’s allegations that thugs sponsored by PDP members launched the Ikire attack, Bamiji debunked it, saying “PDP does not attack anyone”.

He said the APC was simply trying to paint the scenario of a chaotic situation in the state.

“If we didn’t operate on that before we won the election, it’s unthinkable that we would now resort to political violence to make headway,” Bamiji also added.

Bamiji believes that the APC senatorial candidate in Osun West might have a hand in the attack that killed the two PDP members.

He arrived at this conclusion because the APC candidate had debunked the occurrence of any casualty on a radio programme on the day of the incident.

“His utterances were provocative. For Dr Tadese to tell the world that he wasn’t aware anybody was killed invariably implies that he had a hand in it. The police should invite him for questioning,” he said.

This story was produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).