Osun Government Raises Alarm Over Police Raids on SSG, Commissioners’ Residences

The Osun State government has raised alarm over systematic invasion, attacks and bursting of homes of top state government officials by the Osun State Police Command, with the latest being the invasion of the residence of the Secretary to the State Government.

In a statement, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, disclosed that 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.

Alimi said 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. He noted that as at the time the SSG house was invaded, his ward officials were holding a meeting within the compound while the SSG himself was attending the stakeholders forum organised by the National Electoral Commission.

The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment further revealed that the police had yesterday raided the residence of the Commissioner for Energy at Ikire, ransacking the building and destroying several properties. He added that five other commissioners have reported their houses being shadowed and others bursted even when nothing illegal happened in their abodes.

Following several raids and arrests, Alimi stated that 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.

The government’s statement read: “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 accused the police command of partiality, saying: “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.”

He warned that the violations come at a critical time, stating: “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.”

The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment called on higher authorities to intervene, saying: “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 escalates into general breakdown of law and order.”

He also noted the governor’s restraint despite the provocations, adding: “Our governor has consistently tasked the populace to calm down and not to take law into their own hands.

The situation is reaching a boiling point. We must save our democracy from these lawless elements within the Nigerian police.”