The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, has alleged that the arrest of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, was ordered by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, in retaliation for being booed at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday.
Egbedun, in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday, said the police account of the raid contradicts what he witnessed at an INEC stakeholders’ meeting, which he attended alongside the Deputy Governor and Igbalaye.
He said, “We all witnessed the unfortunate moment when Commissioner Gotan was booed while on the podium by citizens of Osun State. Immediately he returned to his seat, he looked directly towards us. At that moment, the SSG laughed.”
The speaker added that he became uneasy after watching Gotan make several calls.
“The next thing I observed was Commissioner Gotan picking up his telephone and making a series of calls. From what I saw, I turned to the SSG and said, ‘The Commissioner of Police has just ordered your arrest”‘.
According to Egbedun, his prediction played out minutes later when Igbalaye received a call that police officers were waiting at his residence.
He said the SSG later informed him he had been invited to the State CID over the alleged recovery of N4 million and two voter cards from his compound.
“I honestly do not understand how such an allegation justified inviting, or attempting to arrest, a public official of his standing,” Egbedun said.
HERALDSUN reports that the Osun Police Command, through its spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the raid was based on intelligence that criminal gangs were hiding in the SSG’s house.
Ojelabi also said officers recovered N4,810,500, two PVCs, a voter register and other items suspected to be linked to electoral offences.
Meanwhile, Egbedun in the post also alleged that the incident was not isolated, citing a similar case where Gotan allegedly ordered all police officers attached to him to report to his office amid threats to his residence.
“We received credible intelligence that some thugs were planning to attack my residence. My security personnel and I remained on high alert in anticipation of the attack.
“However, to my greatest surprise, my police orderly received a call from Commissioner Gotan directing that every police officer attached to me should report to his office for questioning that very day,” he said.
The Speaker said he confronted Gotan directly over the incident.
“I immediately telephoned the Commissioner and told him that I am a proud son of Onikoyi, and that I neither fear nor bow to intimidation.
“I made it abundantly clear that I would never abandon my state or my ancestral home because of anyone, particularly someone I regard as a stranger. I also reminded him that, ultimately, every act of wrongdoing attracts its own consequences,” he said
The speaker said he had received intelligence that some officers under Gotan were planning to implicate and arrest him.
