OSUN 2026: FADAHUNSI CLARIFIES ‘KILL THEM’ REMARK AS POLITICAL VIOLENCE FUELS FEARS OF REPRISALS
Headlinenews.News Calls for Restraint, Urges Police to Protect All Parties, Bring Killers to Justice
By Headlinenews.News
As Osun State approaches Saturday’s governorship election under an increasingly tense security atmosphere, the controversy surrounding Senator Francis Fadahunsi’s viral remarks has exposed a bigger danger: unresolved killings and attacks triggering reprisals among political supporters.
Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East Senatorial District, came under criticism after a video circulated in which he was reported as telling APC supporters that when they encountered Accord Party members before the election, they should “kill them.”
The statement provoked outrage and demands for action. But there is important context — and now an important clarification.
Fadahunsi has since said his statement was not an instruction to physically attack or kill anyone. According to the senator, he was speaking politically and meant APC supporters should “kill” Accord at the ballot box by defeating the party with their votes.
That clarification deserves to be reported as prominently as the original controversy.
It does not, however, erase the disturbing security situation surrounding the election.
Fadahunsi’s remarks came against a backdrop of shootings, killings, attacks and competing allegations involving APC and Accord supporters.
Recent reports have documented an alarming pattern of violence. APC has claimed that no fewer than 30 of its members and supporters have been killed since 2022, including 10 in recent times. Accord has countered that seven of its members have been killed and more than 20 injured by gunfire within three months.
These are competing political claims and should not be presented as established police findings. What is beyond dispute is that lives have been lost and people injured during an increasingly violent election season.
In July, two people were reported killed and six others injured in an attack in which APC members were among the victims. Those killed were identified as 70-year-old Kazeem Akande and another man identified as Lekan.
More recently, gunfire erupted around an APC campaign rally in Ilesa, leaving several people wounded. APC accused individuals linked to Accord, while Accord presented a competing account. Determining responsibility belongs to investigators, not political parties.
This is where the Nigeria Police Force must now draw a firm line.
Nobody should become a sitting duck simply because he or she supports APC, Accord or another political party.
Every Nigerian has the right to personal safety and, within the law, to defend himself or herself against an immediate unlawful attack. But self-defence must never become revenge, vigilantism or collective punishment.
An APC supporter cannot become a target because he wears an APC shirt. Neither should an Accord supporter become an enemy merely because of his political affiliation.
The perpetrators of killings and attacks must be identified individually, arrested and prosecuted on the evidence.
Headlinenews.News therefore calls on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, the Osun State Police Command and other security agencies deployed for the election to provide effective and impartial protection for the lives and property of all Osun residents, irrespective of political affiliation.
Security agencies must also move quickly on unresolved killings.
Where credible evidence identifies those responsible for murdering APC members, they should be arrested and prosecuted. Exactly the same standard must apply where Accord members or supporters of any other party have been attacked.
Justice cannot wear a party badge.
Leaving killings unresolved while grieving supporters believe their colleagues are deliberately being targeted creates fertile ground for retaliation. When people lose confidence that the state will protect them and punish attackers, some may be tempted to take the law into their own hands.
That is how reprisals begin — and it must be prevented.
Political leaders also have a responsibility to moderate their language.
Fadahunsi has clarified that his controversial expression referred to defeating Accord through the ballot rather than physical violence. His clarification should help lower the temperature. But the controversy demonstrates why political leaders must choose their words carefully when supporters are already angry, frightened and grieving.
That restraint must apply across the political divide.
The intimidating language must stop. The shootings must stop. The killings must stop.
On August 15, Osun residents should be able to walk peacefully to their polling units and make their choice without intimidation.
APC should campaign. Accord should campaign. Every participating political party should campaign.
Then the people should decide.
Whoever receives the lawful mandate of Osun voters should emerge victorious. Those dissatisfied with the result have the courts and other institutions established by law for redress.
When the election is over, APC and Accord supporters will still share communities, markets, workplaces, schools, places of worship and families.
No governorship election is worth destroying that coexistence.
The Police must protect everyone, investigate every killing and bring perpetrators to justice before anger becomes retaliation. Osun needs ballots, not bullets; justice, not reprisals; and an election in which the best candidate is allowed to emerge through the peaceful will of the people.
NATIONAL PATRIOTS CALLS FOR PEACE, JUSTICE IN OSUN
The National Patriots urges all political parties in Osun to reject violence, intimidation and reprisals. Security agencies must protect every resident impartially and swiftly investigate killings and attacks, bringing perpetrators to justice regardless of political affiliation. No supporter should become a sitting duck, but self-defence must never become vengeance. Political leaders must moderate their language and allow democracy to prevail. Osun belongs to everyone. Let the campaigns remain peaceful, the ballot decide, and the best candidate emerge.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser MFR.
Former Special Adviser to Former President Goodluck Jonathan.
President, The National Patriots.
