How Osun Police Commissioner Allegedly Ordered SSG's Arrest Over a Laugh at INEC Meeting — Assembly Speaker

 

By Abdulahi Musa 

The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adewale Olumide Egbedun, has accused the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, of abusing his office, alleging that the police chief orchestrated an attempt to arrest the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Teslim Igbalaye, during an INEC stakeholders' meeting.

In a statement on Thursday, Egbedun said he, the Deputy Governor, and the SSG were seated together throughout the meeting when Commissioner Gotan was reportedly booed by some attendees while addressing stakeholders.

According to the Speaker, after returning to his seat, the police commissioner allegedly made a series of telephone calls, prompting him to suspect that an action had been initiated against the SSG.

"I turned to the SSG and said, 'The Commissioner of Police has just ordered your arrest,'" Egbedun claimed.

He said the SSG later received a phone call informing him that police officers were waiting at his residence, forcing him to leave the meeting immediately.

The Speaker stated that when he later contacted the SSG, he was informed that he had been invited to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over allegations that police recovered ₦4 million and two voter cards belonging to members of his political party who were meeting within his compound.

Egbedun questioned the justification for inviting or attempting to arrest a senior government official based on the allegation.

The Speaker also recounted what he described as his personal experience with the police commissioner, alleging that despite intelligence reports of a planned attack on his residence by suspected APC thugs, Commissioner Gotan ordered all police officers attached to him to report to the commissioner's office for questioning.

He said he rejected what he described as an act of intimidation, insisting he would neither leave Osun State nor abandon his residence because of alleged threats.

Egbedun further alleged that he had received information suggesting that some police officers were planning to implicate and arrest him, adding that several people had advised him to leave the state for his safety.

Despite the alleged threats, the Speaker maintained that he would remain in Osun, expressing confidence that justice would prevail.

He called on the Inspector-General of Police to urgently intervene and redeploy Commissioner Gotan, alleging that the police commissioner and some officers under his command had contributed to tension and intimidation in Osun State.

Egbedun added that the people of Osun deserved professional, impartial, and law-abiding policing that respects the rule of law.