Adeleke convoy attack, SojWorldNews.
The attack struck at the height of a celebratory day for the Osun State governor. Adeleke had earlier collected his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osogbo, sealing his re-election victory. He then led a convoy of about 20 vehicles to the monarch’s palace to share the news and receive royal blessings.
Trouble began as the visit wound down. The governor had already exited through a private doorway reserved for the Ataoja and his family, and he’d climbed into his vehicle with a handful of aides, when gunfire suddenly tore through the area.
“He was already in the bus that brought him and his close aides to the palace when we started hearing heavy gunshots,” an eyewitness said, describing the chaos that followed.
Armed assailants had reportedly slipped into the area earlier in an unregistered Toyota Sienna bus, entering through the Ita Olokan axis of Osogbo before opening fire near the palace gates. Security operatives attached to the governor’s convoy quickly returned fire, and the two sides traded gunshots for roughly 12 to 15 minutes before the attackers fled.
Panic gripped the neighborhood as the shooting rang out. Traders abandoned their stalls, residents bolted their doors, and shopkeepers near the palace shuttered their businesses in a scramble for safety. Sporadic gunfire reportedly continued echoing through parts of the city well into the late afternoon, even after the governor’s convoy had cleared the scene.
A trader near the palace, identified only as Munirat, suspects the attackers had inside knowledge of the governor’s schedule. “We suspected that those hoodlums heard about Adeleke’s visit and had been waiting for him,” she said. She added that the assailants damaged the palace’s main gate during the assault before security forces pushed them back.
Witnesses say the attackers didn’t retreat quietly. They allegedly regrouped and pursued the convoy toward the Osogbo Central Mosque before finally breaking off and escaping along the Osogbo-Ilesa Road toward Ita Olokan.
Osun State’s Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, confirmed the incident and moved to reassure the public. “They are hoodlums, and the governor’s security repelled them,” he said. “They attacked the governor’s convoy at Ataoja’s palace. No casualty.”
Adeleke walked away from the ordeal unhurt, and officials say no injuries or deaths resulted from the exchange of gunfire, despite its intensity.
The attack lands at a tense moment for Osun State. It comes just days after the state’s August 15 governorship election, which returned Adeleke to office for a second term, and it has reignited fears about security around the state capital as local government elections approach.
Earlier that same day, before the violence erupted, Adeleke had unveiled a N500 million Election Violence Victims Endowment Fund. The initiative aims to support people and families affected by pre-election violence across the state. He also announced that his family’s Springtime Development Foundation would fund full scholarships, through university level, for the children and dependants of those killed during the election period. A verification and relief committee, chaired by the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Olumide Egbedun, will oversee identifying victims and distributing support.
Security agencies have yet to name any suspects or confirm a motive behind Wednesday’s attack. For now, residents of Osogbo remain on edge, and questions linger over how armed men managed to stake out the governor’s route so close to his own security detail.
SOJWORLDnews will continue following this developing story.
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