Police, Akwa Ibom

File. A Nigerian Policeman

Osun State Government on Wednesday accused the state command of the Nigerian Police Force of invading the residence of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, without search warrant.

The allegations were contained in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, copy of which was obtained by The PUNCH in Osogbo.

He also claimed that those the police operatives met on the premises were arrested.

Alimi further alleged that the SSG’s residence was bursted by a combined team of police officers led by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations.

He also said during the incident, members of Igbalaiye family were arrested and whisked away.

“The Osun State Government has raised alarm over systematic invasion, attacks and bursting of homes of top Osun State government officials by the Osun state police command without proper search warrant, with the latest being the invasion of the house of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

“The SSG’s residence was bursted by a combined team of police officers led by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations with family members of the SSG taken to unknown destinations. The gestapo operations on the SSG residence followed a similar raid and arrest at the residences of about six commissioners and other top functionaries of the government.

“As at the time the SSG house was invaded, his ward officials were holding meeting within the compound while the SSG himself was attending the stakeholders forum organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission,” Alimi said.

He further said police on Tuesday raided the residence of the Commissioner for Energy at Ikire, “ransacking the building and destroying several properties.”

The commissioner further said five other commissioners reported that their houses are being monitored and others bursted even when nothing illegal happened in their abodes.

“Following several raids and arrests, reports at the disposal of the government indicated that several Accord members are languishing in CID cells at the State Command without being granted bail.

“These raids on the SSG and our commissioners are an aggravated assault on the government and people of Osun state. This campaign of repression constitutes grave danger to democracy. It is a reprehensible unprofessional conduct by the police in support of the state APC,” Alimi said.

It further read, “By openly launching attacks on Osun government officials, the state police command has again confirmed its partiality, its partisanship and its becoming a direct tool in the hands of Osun APC. This is a law enforcement agency becoming lawless and acting against the spirit and letters of the constitution.

“These grave violations of the constitution and basic rights of the government and people of Osun state come as the national chairman of INEC is meeting stakeholders. The police has become a major threat to the conduct of free and fair election in Osun state.

“We again call the attention of our traditional rulers, the Nigeria Police Service, the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to this escalation of targeted violence against top government officials and Accord members in Osun state. This must be stopped before it escalate into general breakdown of law and order.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, requested for more time before reacting to the allegations.