APC, Cops Killing, Maiming Us In ‘Police-Induced Genocide,’ Gov Adeleke Cries Out
Osun State’s Governor Ademola Adeleke has lamented to the General Abubakar Abdulsalami-led National Peace Committee to save his people and supporters from what he described as police-induced genocide.
He raised the alarm at the Peace Accord signing event in Osogbo this week.
Addressing the peace forum chaired by former Chief of Army Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, in company of Bishop Matthew Kukah and Cardinal John Onaiyekan, on Wednesday, the Governor alleged a systematic plot to kill, maim and incarcerate Accord leaders through an unholy alliance between Osun APC thugs and the state police command.
He decried what he called a current concerted push to eliminate Accord party leaders and urged peace leaders to stop a progression towards genocide.
“I should have boycotted this peace meeting because of the violence unleashed on Osun State in the last few months, on the directive of Gboyega Oyetola. However, my presence is due to my very deep respect for our peace leaders here present,” Adeleke said.
He stated that war was being waged actively against his people by Osun APC openly supported by the police command.
According to the Governor, in the last three months, the party had lost eight members with more than 20 injured in gun attacks, with no single prosecution or active arrest to date.
He alleged that perpetrators were known Osun APC thugs with crimes committed in the presence of the police, with video evidence on the internet.
He also claimed that more than 60 Accord leaders had been arrested and moved to Abuja, remanded in prisons in Abuja and Nasarawa State.
Adeleke questioned under which law a state Police Commissioner could take instructions from the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, to arrest Accord Party members in Osun State and move them to Abuja without any charge.
He asked the Peace Committee to prevail upon the Inspector General of Police to return everyone in police custody to Osun State to be charged in local courts if the police could show they had committed any crime.
He appealed to the peace leaders to interface with President Bola Tinubu to stop Oyetola, the Osun APC and the Osun Police Commissioner from unleashing further violence on Osun people.
While commending Accord members and Osun people for not retaliating or resorting to self-help, the Governor said his administration’s request was for impartial policing, a fair and just electoral commission and supremacy of voters’ will at the polls.
The Peace Accord signing event also featured the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, urging passionately for peace and emphasising the need to maintain the integrity of Osun State as the cradle of Yoruba tradition.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan, assured that the commission was fully ready and promised zero tolerance for vote buying, while the representative of the IGP, AIG Fasuba Olayemi, conveyed assurances that the police would be neutral and ensure adequate security.
