There were reports of gunshots at the Mayfair Motor Park in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Sunday as suspected thugs allegedly defied Governor Ademola Adeleke’s suspension of activities at motor parks across the state.
Armed police officers allegedly escorted the suspected thugs to the park despite the state government’s directive banning union activities, according to multiple eyewitness accounts cited by SaharaReporters
Witnesses said gunshots were fired and teargas was deployed during the operation, forcing people in the area to flee for safety.
Sources expressed concern that security personnel were allegedly working against the government’s efforts to restore peace to the parks.
One source said, “The governor’s order is to ensure normalcy is restored to the parks. Imagine that the police that should be concerned about peace now escort thugs to go against the governor’s order. It is an unfortunate situation.”
A video obtained by POLITICS NIGERIA showed police officers firing weapons and using teargas during the incident at the motor park.
The situation later escalated before personnel of the Nigerian Navy stationed in Ile-Ife reportedly intervened.
According to another source, the naval personnel arrested four suspected thugs allegedly found with pump-action guns after they took over the park.
The source said, “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 and arrested four thugs with pump-action guns.”
The latest violence comes only days after Governor Adeleke ordered the immediate suspension of all National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) activities in motor parks across Osun State following recurring clashes linked to transport union operations. He also directed security agencies to arrest anyone operating in the name of the union while making it clear that commercial transport services should continue uninterrupted.
The governor said, “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 Osun State Government later clarified that the suspension of activities did not amount to dissolving the state’s NURTW leadership, maintaining that Nurudeen Alowonle remained the substantive chairman of the union in the state.
The fresh confrontation also followed Saturday’s announcement by newly inaugurated NURTW chairman, Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, that union activities had resumed in motor parks despite the government’s directive.
Oyewale said the new executives had been inaugurated in Abuja and appealed to residents not to associate union members with violence.
He stated, “We want to assure the people of Osun State that there is no longer any violence, as all issues in our motor parks have been resolved.”
Governor Adeleke had earlier condemned repeated shootings around motor parks in Osogbo and accused individuals allegedly accompanied by police officers of disrupting public peace. He said he had reported the matter to the Inspector-General of Police and other security chiefs while demanding the arrest of Asiri Eniba over what he described as open defiance of public security laws.
The latest incident comes less than three weeks before the August 15, 2026 governorship election in the state.