The First Lady of Osun State, Mrs Titilola Adeleke, on Monday led a group of women to the state police command headquarters in Osogbo over alleged intimidation of voters and a reported plan to arrest political leaders ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

Adeleke, accompanied by the Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Mrs Ayobola Awolowo, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Market Affairs, Mrs Eniola Omotoso, marched with the protesters from Lameco through the West Bypass to the police headquarters.

The women submitted a petition to the Commissioner of Police in charge of election duties, CP Samuel Etaifo, demanding a peaceful and credible election.

Addressing the police commissioner, Adeleke alleged that some Accord Party leaders were being targeted for arrest by opposition elements.

She cited the reported arrest of the Commissioner for Environment the previous Friday, claiming that he was subjected to degrading treatment while in police custody.

“From what we heard, we learnt that they will start picking our leaders up this week. Last Friday, they picked up the Commissioner for Environment. He was brought here, stripped naked. This is not good enough. They should leave our people alone,” she said.

Responding, Etaifo assured the protesters that the police would provide a peaceful atmosphere for the election.

He said security had improved since his deployment to the state but warned political actors against actions capable of heightening tension.

“If you notice, since I came, we have relative peace in the state. But the problem we have is that we cannot continue to tolerate what you have done today because it will not contribute to peace; it will cause tension again,” Etaifo said.

The police commissioner said he was deployed to Osun on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police to stabilise the state and create an enabling environment for all political actors and voters.

“I have the mandate of the Inspector-General of Police to come to the state and stabilise things, give an enabling environment for every political actor to exercise their franchise, to create public confidence for everyone to come out to vote on election day,” he said.

Etaifo added that the command would review the protesters’ demands and adjust its security strategy where necessary.

“We are going to go back and restrategise to attend to all your demands,” he said.