Accord Party has condemned the arrest of the Secretary to the Osun State Government (SSG), Teslim Igbalaye.
NEWSNGR reports that the Osun State Police Command had confirmed the arrest of Igbalaye and five other individuals following an operation carried out at a property associated with the government official in Osogbo.
Reacting to the development while addressing journalists in Abuja, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, called for the immediate redeployment of the Osun State Commissioner of Police, whom he accused of spearheading what he described as unlawful arrests and detention of Accord Party members across the state.
Olajengbesi alleged that 86 persons, including party candidates and government officials, had been arrested.
He said, “In the last two, three days, over 86 members of the Accord Party have been arrested for no reason. These people were arrested and brought by road to Abuja and are being detained here unnecessarily.
“We have met with the leadership of the police, and they cannot provide any explanation to us. There is no petition against them. These people have committed no offence. The Commissioner of Police in Osun State is completely compromised.”
The Accord Party spokesperson said the development could undermine confidence in the electoral process, stressing the need for a level playing field ahead of the poll.
“There is a need for us to have a free, impartial election, an election where people can freely express their will. Just now I have been informed the SSG of Osun State has been arrested for no reason because he was sensitising his people about the election,” he added.
The police have, however, maintained that the operation was intelligence-driven and carried out in accordance with their constitutional responsibility to investigate alleged criminal activities without fear or favour.
