Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A commercial driver has come forward with a harrowing firsthand account that directly contradicts the official police narrative of the deadly shooting in Ikire, Osun State, insisting that it was a police officer, not political thugs, who fired the fatal shot that killed his passenger. Isiaka Azeez, who was driving the vehicle carrying Nureni Sobowale and his wife back to Bayelsa State, recounted the terrifying moment in a statement that has reignited public outrage and demands for accountability.
The incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 2026, at the Naira and Kobo garage area in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area. The shooting left two civilians dead and three police officers injured, according to the Osun State Police Command. However, Azeez's account paints a chillingly different picture of the events that unfolded.
Azeez told reporters on Friday, August 28, that he was driving a Sequa Jeep, with Sobowale in the front passenger seat and his wife in the back, when he slowed down at a speed breaker under the Ikire bridge. Suddenly, a white Hilux van with "Police" written on its door emerged from Ikire town. "They started shooting from the Hilux," Azeez said. "By the time I looked up, I saw that the man sitting in front of the car has been hit by a bullet, and he died immediately".
The driver was unequivocal in his accusation. "It was a police officer in that van who shot first, and it hit the husband (Nureni Sobowale), who was in the front seat," Azeez stated, adding that there was no fight or confrontation before the Hilux arrived. "I did not witness any fight or anything happening before the Hilux came to that junction. The gunshot came from the policemen inside the white Hilux."
In the aftermath, Azeez said he and the victim's wife desperately shouted for help, but the police officers who arrived at the scene did nothing and left them stranded. The family of the deceased, Nureni Tajudeen Sobowale, also known as Injector, has rejected the police narrative and demanded justice. Fatai Sohunde, a family member, insisted that Sobowale, a father of five, was an innocent victim returning from his mother-in-law's burial in Ibadan. He also disputed the police claim that the family had requested the release of the body without an autopsy, stating that they never authorized anyone to waive a post-mortem examination.
"We demand that the government help us and fight this injustice," Sohunde appealed. While the police have arrested four suspects in connection with the attack, the driver's powerful testimony and the family's rejection of the official account have intensified public scrutiny over the events in Ikire. As one eyewitness put it, "I am completely non-partisan, but I can clearly see a cover-up playing out".
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