Amnesty Demands Action Against Fadahunsi Over Alleged Osun Poll Incitement

Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian government to hold Senator Francis Fadahunsi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) accountable over a viral video in which he was alleged to have instructed supporters to kill members of the Accord Party ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.

The global human rights organisation made the demand in a post on its X handle, describing the remarks attributed to the senator as “deliberate and solely aimed at inciting a bloody poll in Osun State.”

“Amnesty International strongly condemns Francis Fadahunsi (APC) — senator representing the Osun East senatorial district, who was on video during campaign, instructing his supporters to kill members of the Accord Party ahead of the state’s August 15 governorship election,” the organisation stated.

It said Nigerian authorities had an obligation to prohibit advocacy of hatred that amounts to incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence.

“The authorities must urgently denounce any statements, live, online or otherwise, which advocate violence. Senator Fadahunsi must be held accountable,” Amnesty said.

The call followed a viral video in which Fadahunsi was alleged to have directed his supporters to engage in violence against members of the Accord Party, whose governorship candidate is the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke.

Adeleke, at a press conference on Tuesday, accused the senator of inciting violence and “genocide” against Accord Party members and called for a thorough investigation to prevent the alleged threats from being carried out.

The governor also demanded the immediate arrest of Fadahunsi, describing the alleged comments as a “national security threat.”

“This is now beyond politics. This is now a national security threat that requires the attention of Mr President through the office of the National Security Adviser,” Adeleke said.

He said he had raised the matter with the Inspector-General of Police and demanded the immediate investigation and arrest of the senator.

Adeleke also called for an end to what he described as illegal operations by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), alleging that Accord Party leaders were being arrested across the state without justification.

He further urged the police and Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest Fadahunsi over the alleged incitement.

Fadahunsi, however, denied inciting violence, saying he was responding to what he described as the “continued killing of APC members” by alleged thugs in Ilesa.

He maintained that the video had been deliberately edited to distort his remarks and insisted that his comments were a warning of retaliation if attacks against APC members continued.

“The video was deliberately edited to distort what I actually said. What I said was that if the alleged killing of our party members by Accord Party thugs does not stop, our party will retaliate,” Fadahunsi said.

He added that his comments were made in response to alleged attacks against APC members in Ilesa and other parts of the state.

“My statement was very clear: if the killings do not stop, we shall also retaliate. We are here to lodge complaints and demand justice,” he said.