A team of soldiers arrested and detained the candidate of
the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olusola Oke, at Igbotako town in company
with hefty men in four jeeps and two hillux vans around 6:30 am on Saturday.
Our correspondent learnt that when the soldiers accosted Oke
and his men at the Igbotako Motor Park, they could not explain their mission in
the area.
Oke was said to have been treated with courtesy but the
soldiers were said to have been tough on his men as they were allegedly asked
to sit on bare floor for over one hour.
The PDP candidate was said to have been left off the hook
around 7:13 am after he had made phone calls to ‘certain quarters’.
A source among the soldiers told our correspondent that Oke
was arrested because he defied the ‘restriction’ order of the INEC and police.
Oke, who confirmed the development to journalists on
Saturday evening, said, “It was true that the soldiers stopped me at Igbotako
motor park and delayed us for sometime before they released us.”
Meanwhile, the police in Ondo State on Saturday denied an
allegation by the Action Congress of Nigeria that the Commissioner for Special
Duties, Niran Sule, and some other persons had been arrested for alleged
possession of guns and ballot papers and boxes.
ACN had in a statement by its spokesman, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, alleged that “the Ondo State Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr.
Niran Sule, and the Chairman of Owo Council, Mr. Akinrogbe, have been arrested
and stripped naked after they were found with six AK-47 guns in the early hours
of Saturday. They have been whisked to Akure for interrogation.”
However, the spokesman for the state police command, Mr.
Aremu Adeniran, explained that he had contacted the Commissioner for Police,
Ondo State, Mr. Muhammad Indabawa; Owo area commander; and Owo Divisional
Police Officer and they all denied the report.
Aremu said, “Your people (journalists) have been calling me
on the matter; but my boss, the CP, Owo Area Commander and the DPO Owo had all
denied it when I called them.
“The implication of this is that the arrest, if any, was not
carried out by the police and we are not aware of such incident.”
Also, the Public Relations Officer of the 32 Artillery
Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Akure, Lt.-Col. Emmanuel Onoja, said the Army
were not aware of the purported arrests.
No comments:
Post a Comment