The police investigation into the violence at Mayfair Motor Park, Ile-Ife, Osun State, took a fresh turn on Monday with the recovery of another corpse from the troubled transport facility.
The discovery came barely a day after the shooting of an Accord Party member and transport stakeholder, Olalekan Oyeyemi, popularly known as Ajagungbade Emir, at the park.
The latest corpse, whose identity has not been made public, was recovered by policemen who visited the park to enforce the state government’s directive suspending activities at the facility.
The Osun State Police Command said the body had been deposited at a morgue, while the circumstances surrounding the death were being investigated.
The command also disclosed that the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for detailed investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, who confirmed the recovery, said the motor park remained closed in line with the state government’s directive following the violence that erupted there.
He said the police were determined to establish what happened at the park and bring anyone found culpable to justice.
Ojelabi urged individuals whose names had been mentioned in connection with the violence to report to the police rather than attempting to defend themselves through social media.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police had directed that all those found to have participated in the violence should be apprehended and prosecuted, regardless of their status or political affiliation.
The development has added a new dimension to the police investigation into the crisis at the motor park, which had reportedly been linked to a dispute over the leadership and control of transport operations in Ile-Ife.
Oyeyemi, who was regarded as a prominent figure in the Accord Party, was also active in the transport sector and had reportedly been involved in efforts to resolve the lingering leadership crisis within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state.
Following the incident, tension spread to parts of Osun, including the state capital, Osogbo, where sporadic shootings were reported in the aftermath of the killing.
The state government subsequently directed that activities at the affected motor park be suspended, while security agencies moved to restore order and investigate the circumstances surrounding the violence.