Despite the Osun State Government’s directive suspending union activities in motor parks across the state, sources have narrated to SaharaReporters how armed police personnel allegedly escorted thugs to take over the Mayfair Motor Park in the Ile-Ife area of the state on Sunday morning.
According to multiple accounts, gunshots were fired and teargas deployed while the alleged thugs were being escorted to the park, causing panic among motorists, traders and residents in the area.
Sources who spoke to SaharaReporters expressed concern that, despite the government’s efforts to prevent motor parks from becoming flashpoints for violence, some police officers appeared to be undermining those efforts.
“The governor’s order is to ensure normalcy is restored to the parks, imagine that the Police that should be concerned about peace now escorts thugs to go against the governor’s order, it is an unfortunate situation,” a source told SaharaReporters.
A video obtained by SaharaReporters appears to show police officers discharging firearms and deploying teargas during the incident at Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
According to sources, after the sporadic gunfire and the alleged takeover of the park, personnel of the Nigerian Navy in Ile-Ife intervened and arrested four suspected thugs allegedly found in possession of pump-action guns.
“After shootings to scare away people and harassing motorists, men of the Nigerian Navy at Ile Ife intervened to stop the police aided thugs from the invasion of the Mayfair Park, arrested four thugs with pump action guns,” another source told SaharaReporters.
The latest incident occurred despite the Osun State Government’s recent suspension of activities at motor parks and the collection of levies, a decision taken in response to escalating security concerns and repeated clashes linked to transport union operations.
Last Thursday, Governor Ademola Adeleke ordered the immediate suspension of all activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in motor parks across the state and directed security agencies to arrest anyone operating in the name of the union.
The directive followed a meeting of the Osun State Security Council chaired by the governor, during which measures were considered to restore order and strengthen public safety after recent violence associated with motor park operations.
In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the state government said the decision followed extensive deliberations on the prevailing security situation and the need to restore sanity in motor parks across Osun State.
Governor Adeleke, however, clarified that commercial transport activities should continue uninterrupted despite the suspension of union operations.
He also ordered the immediate suspension of the collection of all levies in motor parks and instructed security agencies to arrest anyone parading as an official or executive of the union.
“I hereby direct the police and other security agencies to stop all activities of the union in all our parks across the state. I am not saying you should close the parks, but you should not allow anyone to operate in the parks in the name of the union.
“Anyone found contravening this order should be arrested for possible prosecution for disturbance of public peace,” the governor said.
The governor later explained that the suspension of activities at motor parks was intended to create an atmosphere for peace to return and did not amount to the dissolution of the existing NURTW leadership in the state.
The government also maintained that Nurudeen Alowonle remains the substantive Chairman of the Osun State chapter of the NURTW, stressing that neither Governor Adeleke nor the state government removed any duly appointed officers of the union.
In a statement issued on Friday, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment Kolapo Alimi clarified that Alowonle and his executives across the local government areas remain the recognised leadership of the union.
According to the statement, Alowonle and his executive were appointed by the national leadership of the NURTW in line with the regulations and guidelines of the national union.
The government further stated that, “there is no vacuum in the leadership of the union.”
Earlier last Monday, Governor Adeleke condemned repeated shootings and the intimidation of innocent residents around Old Garage and other motor parks in Osogbo. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor also expressed concern over what he described as police protection for individuals allegedly responsible for the unrest.
“The video of sporadic shooting by Asiri Eniba and his gang is everywhere on social media. Lorry loads of police men accompanied Asiri and his group as they paraded across motorway parks in the state,” the governor lamented.
Adeleke said he had already brought the matter to the attention of the nation’s top security authorities and demanded swift action against those allegedly responsible for the violence.
“I have personally called the attention of the Inspector General of Police and other service chiefs to these open attacks on public peace. I demand immediate arrest of Asiri Eniba for this open defiance of public security act.”
The governor questioned the motive behind the attacks, arguing that no legitimate protest should endanger the lives of innocent commuters and residents using the state’s motor parks.
With the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election less than three weeks away, security concerns have continued to mount, with recurring violent incidents resulting in deaths, injuries and the destruction of property, raising fears over the safety of residents and the conduct of the forthcoming poll.
Efforts to obtain comments from the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi Zechariah, were unsuccessful.
Calls to his telephone line were not answered, while text messages sent to him had not been responded to as of the time of filing this report.