By AfrikTimes | Osogbo
More than a year after two men were shot dead in Iragbiji, the Osun State Government has moved formally against a man widely known in local politics as Asiri Eniba, filing murder and firearms charges against him and twelve co-defendants in a case that has now taken an unusual procedural turn after the accused reportedly could not be located for service of court papers.
The charge
According to the information filed by the Osun State Ministry of Justice at the High Court in Osogbo, Kazeem Oyewale, identified in the charge as “Asiri Eniba,” heads a list of thirteen defendants accused in connection with a shooting in Iragbiji on the morning of February 17, 2025. The charge sheet, filed under suit number HOS/14C/2026, lists the other defendants as Agboola Sogo (“Ado”), Oyinlola Muideen (“Ado”), Tajudeen Agboola (“Orji Ketu”), Sulaiman Adebare (“Couple”), Sulaiman Adeyemo, Julius Olawumi Olaiya, Taoreed Adebayo, Yinka Opaleye, Ayodeji Jide, Sunday Fabunmi (“Popular”), Azeez Meco, and a defendant identified only as Makinde.
All thirteen face six counts, which are conspiracy to commit murder; two separate counts of murder, one each for victims named in the charge as Oyebamiji Taiwo and Oyeyode Damisi; two counts of attempted murder; and one count of unlawful possession of firearms. The attempted murder counts allege that Tunde Oladiran was shot in the buttocks and Opaniyi Olayinka was shot in the stomach during the same incident. The firearms count accuses the group of possessing pump-action guns without a valid licence, contrary to the Firearms Act.
The charge states that all the alleged offences occurred at about 10 am on the day in question, within the Osogbo Judicial Division.
What the case file says happened
The proof of evidence attached to the charge includes statements from several witnesses, and the picture they present centres on a political gathering that turned violent. According to statements from witnesses named in the file, including Adeyemo Opeyemi Sunday and Opanuyi Olayinka, a crowd had gathered in Iragbiji around the time Governor Ademola Adeleke’s convoy was expected to pass through, with some witnesses describing themselves as PDP members present to welcome the governor. These witnesses allege that armed individuals arrived and opened fire on the gathering and that the shooting led to the deaths of the two men named in the murder counts.
Notably, two of the accused persons, Oyinlola Muideen and Ayodeji Jide, have themselves given statements that are part of the case file. Both identify as APC members and describe travelling to Iragbiji that day in connection with a court ruling that had reportedly granted the APC leave to resume occupation of the Boripe Local Government secretariat. Their accounts describe a clash breaking out between the two groups, gunfire from both directions, and confusion over who was responsible for the fatalities, though neither statement, as recorded, admits to personally killing anyone.
Why the case is being served by newspaper publication
The matter has been delayed by an unusual complication, which the prosecution says it has been unable to personally serve the defendants with the charge and supporting court documents. On July 23, 2026, Hon. Justice M.O. Awe of the Osogbo High Court granted an ex parte application by the Ministry of Justice for substituted service, meaning the charge, the proof of evidence, and other court processes will instead be served by publishing them in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper of July 27, 2026. The court has adjourned the matter to August 4, 2026, for the defendants’ arraignment.
Government’s position
In a statement issued the same day through the Ministry of Information and Public Enlightenment, the Osun State Government confirmed the filing and framed it as part of a broader push for accountability over the February 2025 killings, which it described as an assassination of the two victims. The statement, signed by Commissioner Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, restated the government’s commitment to due process and the rule of law. It’s worth noting that the government’s statement went further than the charge sheet itself in its characterization of Oyewale, describing him as a well-known figure aligned with the APC.
A name that’s come up before
Readers following AfrikTimes’s recent coverage of Osun’s pre-election tensions may recognize the name Kazeem Oyewale, or Asiri Eniba, who is the same figure describing himself as the union’s substantive chairman in Osun State. AfrikTimes sees this as a claim that stood in direct contrast to police and local commentary around last week’s Old Garage clash in Osogbo, which described a rival figure, Wakili Alowonle, as head of a competing NURTW faction. It’s also to be noted that the National President of NURTW earlier recognized Asiri Eniba as the caretaker chairman of NURTW in the FCT, Abuja. Whether or how these threads connect remains to be seen, but the murder charge adds a significant new dimension to a name that has already featured prominently in the state’s transport-union and political disputes ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
