By Desire Emmanuel
The Osun State Governor, Nurudeen Adeleke and the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ibrahim Gothan, are currently at daggers drawn over the arrest and detention of one of the aides of the governor.
The state governor has therefore written to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, asking him to call the CP to order over what he described as the “unlawful arrest and detention” of the aide.
Sources close to the state government disclosed on Monday, January 12, that the governor’s aide, Abiodun Adegoke, who was arrested last week for allegedly defaming the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Oyebamiji, has been denied bail since then.
The governor, in the letter written to the IGP, was said to have decried the continuous detention of Mr Adegoke, saying it was a breach of his fundamental human rights, especially as the petition that led to his detention was from the APC and its candidate and it is a non-capital offence which is bailable under the law.
The governor said he wondered why police would deny bail on two separate occasions despite compliance with the conditions, including producing Level 10 and Level 12 officers, calling the situation an unacceptable partisan conduct by the state police command.
The governor wrote: “One of my aides, Mr Adegoke, has been detained for more than five days now. He has not been charged to court and he has been refused bail on two occasions. That is a fundamental breach of the law and the constitution.
“The Osun State Police Command seems to be losing every sense of professionalism since Mr Gothan resumed as CP in Osun. Police now detain for as long as they want without granting bail or charging suspects to court, and in most cases, the abuse of rights of citizens is based on the verbal petition or instructions of opposition political leaders.
“I therefore demand unconditional and immediate release of Mr Adegoke and an end to the systematic harassment of my media aides who are functioning within the confines of the law and the constitution.
“Before Mr Adegoke, another one of my aides, Mr. Iyiola Monsuru, was detained. Both of them were arrested without the police extending a formal invitation to them.”
As of the time of writing this report, neither the state police command nor the police commissioner had responded to the governor’s allegations.
