The All Progressives Congress in Osun State on Sunday said the leadership of the state police command had given it a reason to suspect and conclude that its operatives were doing the bidding of Governor Ademola Adeleke and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
This was contained in a statement obtained in Osogbo, signed by the APC acting chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, where he also lamented the attack and killing of many members of the party, claiming the police “chose not to act” on numerous complaints against the ruling party.
Lawal also alleged that APC members were attacked in Ile-Ife, Ede, Ila-Orangun, Osogbo and some other towns and villages in the state by the PDP thugs with attendant destruction of their properties and no action was taken by the police.
His statement read in parts, “the leadership of the police in Osun State is giving room for us, the APC members and leaders, to suspect and conclude that the police has been doing the bidding of the PDP and Adeleke in the state.
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“Let me state here that immediately the current commissioner of police, (Patrick Kehinde Longe), was transferred to Osun State to replace the one who was yet to spend two months, the members and leaders of the PDP went into a wild jubilation, saying that: ‘Yes, we are happy that our man has resumed as the state CP’, which was a loaded statement.
“The long and short of my political sermon is that the leadership of the Osun State Police Command should maintain visible and verifiable neutrality in the discharge of the statutory duties of policing at all times, especially during this critical period in the history of the state.”
But in a counter statement, the PDP acting chairman in the state, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, charged the security agencies to be professional and act in line with the dictate of the oath of engagement.
Adekunle noted that the call became necessary in light of the boasts by the APC in the state to hijack the Department of State Service and use the security agency to cover up its criminal activities during the poll.
The PDP boss, who also accused the APC of planning to blackmail the police and force it to look away from its violent activities, warned against a breakdown of law and order in the state.
The statement read, “There is no question about the fact that the APC has chosen violence to lord itself over the people in the coming elections. From Ife to Ila, Ikire to Osogbo, and many other parts of the state, PDP members, and by extension, Osun people have come under increasing violent attacks from APC thugs.
“Our expectation as a party was that security agencies will step in and go after the violent actors to keep the state safe. We are shocked to hear the APC public boast that it already had the DSS under its control and will spare its militias from questions of the heinous activities being perpetrated daily.
“For the Police, the APC is exploring blackmail to make sure that it does not look its way as it unleashes terror and scares our members and supporters from the poll. Such is the extent that the APC is prepared to go just to force itself on Osun people who are opposed to the party going by their past terrible experience with the outgone party.”
