The acting chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in Osun State, Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, has denied allegations linking him to an alleged assassination attempt on the son of Governor Ademola Adeleke, Adebayo Adeleke, also known as B-Red.
Oyewale, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in the state, described the allegation as false and politically motivated, while threatening legal action against the Osun State Government.
The controversy followed a statement issued by the Osun State Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, alleging that B-Red narrowly escaped an assassination attempt carried out by hoodlums reportedly loyal to Oyewale.
According to the government, the incident occurred around the Oke-Fia area of Osogbo, a short distance from the Osun Government House.
Reacting during an interview with journalists in Osogbo on Monday, Oyewale dismissed the allegation and appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to protect him and his supporters from alleged intimidation and harassment.
“I want to call the attention of President Bola Tinubu, the IGP and Nigerians. They should come to my aid because the governor and Kolapo Alimi have called for my arrest over allegations that are not true, and they are threatening me,” he said.
Oyewale further alleged that political opponents had been targeting him and his associates since 2022, claiming that his younger brother was killed during the previous election cycle and that the corpse had yet to be released to the family.
“Those after me killed my younger brother in November 2022, and till today they have not released his corpse to us. Now they are alleging that I want to kill the governor’s son. They are making claims they cannot substantiate,” he added.
The NURTW leader also denied allegations linking him to the destruction of campaign billboards and political violence in the state.
“They are lying against me. I know nothing about the allegations. This was the same strategy they used in 2022. I am a member of the APC. What is my business with Accord? Anytime anything happens within their party, they blame me,” he stated.
Oyewale urged his supporters not to panic over the development, insisting that attempts to intimidate members of the transport union would not succeed.
“They used indiscriminate arrests of NURTW members in 2022, but that cannot happen again. That is why they have embarked on this campaign of calumny against me,” he said.
