Governor Ademola Adeleke used an address at a peace summit on the Osun governorship election on Thursday to deliver a stark warning about the state of affairs in Osun, telling assembled peace leaders that his government and party faithful have been under sustained attack for the past three months and calling on the Inspector General of Police to secure the release of party members he says are being held without charge.
Opening on what he called a sad note, the Governor said he welcomed the peace leaders to a state where his people, government, and party members had faced siege-like conditions. He admitted he had considered boycotting the meeting given the violence he alleged had been unleashed on the state on the directive of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, but said his deep respect for the peace leaders present had persuaded him to attend regardless.
The Governor argued that even as the gathering sought to endorse peace, his government and supporters continued to face what he described as police-sanctioned violence and intimidation, alleging that the Osun APC was waging an active campaign against his people with the open support of the state police command. He urged the peace leaders to intervene to halt what he characterised as a progression toward genocide against the people of Osun.
Governor Adeleke said the party had lost eight members to gun attacks over the past three months, with more than 20 others injured, and stated that no arrests or prosecutions had followed despite what he called widespread video evidence implicating known APC thugs.
He said more than 60 Accord Party members were currently in police detention without having been charged, including the Secretary to the State Government, whom he said was arrested on what he called trumped-up charges and detained overnight after his residence was raided without a court-authorised search warrant.
He further alleged that more than 60 party leaders, including House of Representatives candidate Hon. Alaba Popoola, had been moved to Abuja and remanded in prisons in Abuja and Nasarawa State.
Questioning the legal basis for the transfers, the Governor asked under what authority a state police commissioner could take instructions to arrest Accord members and hold them outside Osun State, noting that both federal and state high courts exist within Osun where any suspect could be lawfully arraigned.
The Governor formally requested that the Peace Committee press the Inspector General of Police to have all detainees returned to Osun State and either charged before courts in the state or released, should no evidence of wrongdoing exist.
He also alleged that a known leader of APC-linked thugs had, days earlier, been assisted by police in taking control of motor parks and garages across the state, and reiterated his claim that a plot was underway to harm Osun residents before, during, and after the election.
The Governor appealed to the peace leaders to engage the President to restrain the Minister, the Osun APC, and the state Police Commissioner from further violence, and called for an end to what he described as an alliance between police and party thugs. He urged the police to emulate the professionalism and impartiality he said other security agencies had demonstrated.
Governor Adeleke maintained that his supporters had thus far refrained from retaliation, attributing the restraint to a firm belief in the rule of law rather than weakness, though he cautioned that the current calm amounted to what he called “a peace of the graveyard.” He said Osun voters remained ready for the August 15 election and would resist any attempt at rigging.
He closed by reiterating his call for impartial policing, a fair and independent electoral commission, and the supremacy of the voters’ will at the polls, thanking the peace leaders for their intervention.
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