The Osun State Government has kicked against the arrest of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, and five others, accusing the state command of the Nigerian Police Force of invading the residence of Igbalaiye without a search warrant.
In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the state government also claimed that the police operatives who met on the premises were arrested.
According to Alimi, the SSG’s residence was busted by a combined team of police officers led by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations.
He also said during the incident, members of the Igbalaiye family were arrested and whisked away, adding that this was not an isolated case as similar arrests had been carried out in the state recently.
“The Gestapo operations on the SSG residence followed a similar raid and arrest at the residences of about six commissioners and other top functionaries of the government.
“As of the time the SSG’s house was invaded, his ward officials were holding a meeting within the compound while the SSG himself was attending the stakeholders’ forum organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission,” Alimi said.
He further said the police on Tuesday raided the residence of the Commissioner for Energy at Ikire, “ransacking the building and destroying several properties.”
Tension heightened ahead of the Osun State governorship election on Wednesday as the state police command arrested Igbalaiye, Akande Taiwo ‘m’ 60years, Adeyemo Lukman ‘m’ 45years, Olaoye Muftau ‘m’ 50years, and Aderemi Musliu ‘m’ 40years.
The police said the suspects were arrested during a raid on Igbalaiye’s residence in Osogbo, where they claimed to have recovered a sum of N4,810,500, two voter cards, a voter register and other items suspected to be linked to electoral offences, an allegation the Osun State Government and the governor’s campaign team rejected.
The police stated that among those arrested at the SSG’s residence was a suspect on their watchlist in connection with criminal offences, Oladele Abiodun.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, in a statement obtained in Osogbo, said two PVCs, a voter register, Dynabook laptop, one photocopy machine, and one printer were also recovered from Igbalaiye’s residence.
