Nigeria, Aug. 13 -- As Osun State prepares for Saturday's governorship election, the contest has taken a darker narrative, one marked not only by campaign promises and political rallies but by killings and attacks that have left residents increasingly fearful of participating in the exercise.

In recent months, politically motivated violence has been recorded in parts of the state. The growing pre-election bloody incidents reflect a resurgence of the violence that has repeatedly accompanied elections in the South-west state.

The violence has largely involved the ruling Accord Party and its major challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC), with both parties portraying the other as the aggressor.

The incumbent governor, Ademola Adele...