‘PDP chieftain among robbery suspects’

Police have been accused of shielding the identity of a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) allegedly arrested for robbery. Ayodeji Olumudi, one of the suspects paraded by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), in Lagos on Monday, is said to be a strong member of PDP.

The police had paid particular attention to Hon Odeyemi Itunnu, an All Peoples Congress (APC) chieftain, said to be the backbone of the gang. According to the police, Itunnu is also a local government executive member in Efon-Alaaye, Ekiti State.
The suspects were paraded by Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba. At press time, Mba neither picked his calls nor responded to messages on his ‘whatsapp’. After the arrest of the gang, FSARS said it recovered 17 of the cars the robbery suspects stole in different parts of the country, most of which were Toyota and Honda models.
Three assorted guns were also recovered from them. Itunnu claimed that he gave one of the suspects,Omoniyi Ajewole a locally-made gun, to protect during election period. The police said the gun had been recovered. Aside from Itunnu, Ajewole and Olumudi, other suspects are Oluseye Jacob, Oluwadamiliare Rasaki, Ajisafe Olawale, Ogunniyi Sunday, Tolani Babatunde and Abubakar Umar.
Different websites are awash with accusations that the police deliberately refused to link Olumudi with PDP. “APC has questioned reports in some national newspapers concerning the arrest of one of its members for robbery, asking why the suspect, Itunu Odeyemi, was the only one so identified,” one of the websites, Sahara Reprters, said. It also quoted APC as saying in a statement that Odeyemi was neither a chieftain nor a leader in the party as portrayed.
“He is a registered member though and we could not have raised any doubt on his integrity, except for his proving otherwise.
“We are concerned that a more prominent person among those paraded as robbers is one Ayodeji Olumudi, who is a core member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kogi State since 2009. He stands third from left in the picture displayed, putting on a red T-Shirt,” the statement added
TELEGRAPH