Osun Election: Aregbesola wins
Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) today declared incumbent Osun State
Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the winner of
Saturday’s governorship poll in the state.
According to the INEC, Aregbesola of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) won in 22 out of 30
local government areas of the state to defeat his
main challenger, Senator Iyiola Omisore of the
Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) who won in eight
local government areas.
Omisore’s running mate, Obada, PDP chairman lose
in their polling units
Leading lights of the APC had on Thursday obtained
an interlocutory injunction from an Ile-Ife high court
presided over by Justice A. Abdulkarim to restrain
the inspector-general of police and the director-
general of the State Security Service (SSS) from
tampering with their fundamental human rights
pending the determination of the main suit.
Initial failure of INEC to make identification tags
available for APC agents nearly disrupted the poll in
over 100 polling units across the state.
Also, the early results indicate that many of the
leaders of the PDP in the state lost in their polling
units. They include the PDP’s candidate’s running
mate Hon. Adejare Bello, former minister of state for
defence Erelu Olusola Obada, and the party’s
chairman Gani Ola-Oluwa.
Bello lost the election in his Ede North polling unit
where his party scored 30 votes as against APC’s
130 votes.
The state chairman of PDP, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa,
also lost the election in his Olorunda local
government polling unit where PDP scored 95 votes
as against APC’s 142 votes.
Aregbesola’s APC won the election in his Ifofin
Ward 08, Ilesa East local government where he got
214 to PDP’s 11 votes, while the acting chairman of
the APC in the state, Elder Lowo Adebiyi, did not
lose: APC trounced the PDP with 108 to 59 votes.
Former minister of state for defence Erelu Olusola
Obada lost her Ibodi, Atakumosa West local
government, polling unit where PDP scored 3 votes
while the APC scored 300 votes.
In Ede North where Senator Isiaka Adeleke hails
from, the APC scored 640 votes as against the
PDP’s 9 votes.
However, The PDP flagbearer, Senator Omisore,
made a strong showing in some polling units in Ife
zone: he scored 149 votes in Ife Central Ward 05,
Unit 01, while the APC scored 73 votes.
Also defecting former Osun State governor
Olagunsoye Oyinlola could not deliver to the APC,
which scored 61 votes as against PDP that scored
125.
Nonetheless, the election was preceded by claims
and reports of arrest of some members of the APC
by armed security operatives who allegedly
stormed their residences after nightfall.
Notwithstanding, the election was conducted under
a peaceful atmosphere in many towns.
The Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) made good its promise to ensure that
election materials arrived at polling units on time
while voting started as scheduled in many local
government areas.
Large turnout, tight security in Osogbo
There was a large turnout of voters in most of the
polling booths visited by LEADERSHIP Sunday early
yesterday in Osogbo, Osun State.
INEC officials were at their duty post as early as
8am with security agents complementing their
services.
As early as 8:25am, over 30 people had been
accredited to vote at Bishop Street Unit 002 in
Olorunda LGA, Osogbo.
Aregbesola expresses delight at election process
Governor Aregbesola has expressed delight at the
conduct of the governorship election in the state.
Aregbesola, who was accredited in Unit 1, Ward 8,
Ifofin, Ilesa, at 10:45am, said he was sure of victory
in the poll.
The governor, who was accompanied by his wife
Sherifat and his two children, urged the people of
the state to maintain the existing peace in the state.
Aregbesola walked from his Ilesa home with his
party supporters, expressing happiness with the
way the electorate conducted themselves.
Voters came out in large numbers while electoral
officers arrived promptly for the exercise.
Omisore votes, decries high rate of thuggery,
intimidation
Governorship candidate of the PDP Senator Omisore
cast his vote at Unit 3 in Ward 1 in Moore area of Ife
East LGA about noon.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after he cast his
ballot, he confirmed the arrest of members of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) for various electoral
offences.
He said, “We cannot say we have 100 per cent
confidence on INEC. You cannot have 100 per cent
confidence on any process that is managed by
human. Even as an engineer, you cannot have 100
per cent confidence on the efficiency of a machine.
We have arrested some All Progressives Congress
chieftains with electoral materials. There is
intimidation and high level of thuggery.
“With what I have seen, I can only pass 70 per cent
confidence on INEC.”
Obanikoro defends militarization in Osun
The minister of state for defence, Musiliu Obanikoro,
has defended the federal government’s decision to
involve the military in the Osun State governorship
election, saying that it would have resulted in
bloodletting.
The minister, while addressing journalists in Ibadan,
debunked the claim that he was in Osun State for
the election.
According to him, soldiers were drafted to Osun to
maintain peace and orderliness during the election.
“Our interest is having a free and fair election which
President Jonathan and we his disciples believe in.
If the military had not been drafted to Osun’s
election, blood would have been flowing there.
“You, gentlemen of the press, can see me in Ibadan
live and direct today (Saturday). As you too see, I
am not in Osun talk less of being part of the election
there,” he said.
He alleged that the APC had invaded Osun with
thugs, saying that what APC was doing was in
contradiction of electoral guidelines.
How gunmen stormed my house eve of election-
Sen. Salami
A chieftain of the APC, Senator Bayo Salami,
yesterday narrated how he and his family narrowly
escaped death at the hands of “gunmen” who
stormed his residence at the GRA in Osogbo, capital
of Osun State, at about 10:05pm on Friday.
The home of the former federal lawmaker is less
than five minutes’ walk from a police command and
directly opposite a court premises.
Salami, who represented Osun Central under the
Alliance for Democracy (AD) between 1999-2003,
told newsmen at his Olu-Ode polling unit that the
gunmen numbering about 15, including a lady, came
in a bus and a sport utility vehicle.
He said: “They beat up my security at the gate and
carried him away. They did all that, so me and my
family moved into one room.
“They shouted ‘open the door or will we will shoot it
down’. They shot at the door thinking it was a
wooden door. They shot at the door several times
but they could not gain entry. When you go to my
house now, you will see the pellets littered around.”
He said upon their failure to gain access to him and
his family, they turned on themselves, blaming one
another for the failure of their mission. “They fought
themselves before leaving my compound. They
were saying to themselves, ‘I told you we should
have come here earlier.”
On whether he reported the matter to the police, he
said, “I don’t have cause to go to the police. I sent
text to people who could help me out.”
He noted that he had a tip-off of an intended attack
on him, adding that he instructed his wife, who is
related to the minister of police affairs, Jelili
Adesiyan, challenging him on what had transpired.
He said masterminds of such attack deserve not to
live in the same society with decent people.
He said the minister replied saying he does not
deserve the kind of text message and allegation
against him.
Salami said the APC would win the election as it had
been a contest between the people of Osun and
Omisore. “This is desperation, not democracy. They
did it to me. I saw it live. With what they did
yesterday (Friday) night I now know they don’t have
decorum. I now know I am open for attack. If you
get to my house you will see all the evidence.”
My ordeal in the hands of security agents – Lai
Mohammed
Meanwhile, following the Gestapo arrest,
manhandling and release of APC spokesperson
Alhaji Lai Mohammed and other APC members
Friday night in Oshogbo, the party has accused
President Goodluck Jonathan of desecrating
national institutions by using it to clamp down on the
opposition.
Mohammed, who alongside Mr Sunday Dare, the
media aide to APC national leader Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, and Mr Afolabi Salisu, deputy chief
of staff to Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, was
nabbed by national security officials while in Osun
State Friday night, said they were lucky to be alive
to recount their experience , given their encounter
with the security officials.
In a statement he personally signed, the APC
spokesman said their offence was not beyond the
fact that he belongs to the opposition; other key
officials of the PDP were allowed to walk freely in
Osun State, he said.
The APC spokesman said, ‘’He desecrates national
institutions by wilfully using them against the
opposition. This is not the democracy that many of
our compatriots fought and died for. This is not the
Nigeria that was envisaged by our past heroes. It is
time for all concerned to step in and stop President
Jonathan before he brings the country crashing
down on our heads.
“Again, we call on President Jonathan to stop
deceiving the world. In one breath, this president
says he is committed to credible elections and that
his political ambition is not worth the life of any
Nigerian.
“In another, he sanctions state-sponsored
harassment, intimidation and even killing of ordinary
Nigerians by security forces that are now the
enforcement arm of the ruling party, all in the name
of politics.”
He explained that they were being driven to the
Government House in Oshogbo when they were
stopped at a military checkpoint by men in military
and DSS uniforms, all hooded and armed to the
teeth with AK-47 assault rifles, pistols and other
weapons.
He continued:” Since there was no curfew in Osun
State and people were moving around freely, we felt
it was a routine check.
‘’Suddenly, the men, some of them apparently
drunk, ordered us out of the car, took our phones,
pointed their assault rifles at our heads and said
‘you are under arrest’. They herded us into their
bus like animals and drove away. There is no doubt
that they knew who we are because I introduced
myself!
‘’From our encounter with our tormentors, there is
also no doubt that these were not just soldiers and
DSS officials; there were also ex-militants and
thugs, all clad in military and DSS uniforms but
apparently lacking in any training! We also
witnessed how men in military and DSS uniform
fired their guns at the gate leading to the residence
of Senator Isiaka Adeleke to force it open!
‘’We asked them why we were being arrested, but
they ignored our question as they drove for close to
one hour before veering into a compound that
turned out to be the offices of the DSS. There, we
met people who had been previously arrested and
stripped of their clothing, many of them bloodied
from the beatings to which they must have been
subjected.
‘’We were herded to one side as our tormentors
marched around triumphantly, in what could well
have been a scene from the Ukraine!
“We were waiting for our turn to be stripped of our
apparels and taken along with those who were
arrested earlier to the DSS cells when a man who is
apparently a senior DSS official intervened and
ordered our release. The men who arrested us,
apparently unhappy at the order to set us free,
rejected the order, until the man asserted his
authority and even accompanied us to where we
were arrested from.”
He said it was at this point they discovered that
their driver had been badly beaten and even robbed
of his personal belongings by the same security
agents being paid by the taxpayers to protect the
citizens.
‘’This arrest is not about Lai Mohammed, Sunday
Dare or Afolabi Salisu, whoever we may be, but
about the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of
Nigerians, ordinary Nigerians, to move around
freely, associate with any party of their choice and
express their opinions without being molested or
arrested.
‘’The way and manner we were harassed, arrested
and dehumanized on Friday night show that Nigerian
citizens can no longer be sure that the security
agents they encounter on the roads or anywhere
else are well-trained and highly-disciplined men
and women in the military, police, DSS and others
that we used to know.
“What we have now are Jonathan’s soldiers,
policemen and DSS officials who have since
stopped working for the nation but are now the
enforcement arm of the PDP.
‘’Our party, the APC, has no doubt whatsoever that
the depravity being exhibited under President
Jonathan’s watch, in the name of politics, has his
imprimatur. We have no doubt that elections, which
should be a celebration of democracy, have now
been turned to war because of the desperation of
President Jonathan to win re-election at all costs.
We have no doubt that the anarchic minister of state
for defence and minister of police affairs, who are
leading the ‘troops’ in Osun as they did in Ekiti, are
taking their cue from President Jonathan.
‘’If those ministers can move around freely in Osun
and elsewhere, why can’t other Nigerians,
irrespective of the party they belong to? If a PDP
hireling like Chris Uba can be put in the command of
50 soldiers of the Nigerian Army, why should
anyone still be under any illusion that the Nigerian
Army is still serving the nation? Where else in the
world is a thug commanding disciplined forces?
‘’We Lai Mohammed, Sunday Dare and Afolabi
Salisu are just fortunate to be alive. The guns
pointed at our heads by drunken armed men could
have gone off! Since our arrest took place in the
dark, we could have been driven to an unknown
destination and shot dead! This is a dangerous time
for Nigeria and her democracy. Irrespective of the
outcome of the Osun election, democracy has been
dealt a near-mortal blow. 73,000 ‘security agents’,
including the military, police, DSS, Civil Defence, ex-
militants, thugs and murderers, deployed to police
election in just one state? There is no better
indication that we are in a militarized democracy.”
Akande condemns usage of army, SSS for poll
Meanwhile, former national chairman of the APC
Chief Bisi Akande has condemned the usage of key
national institutions for partisan politics, saying that
it would spell doom for the nation.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP at his Ila Orogun
country home yesterday, Akande wondered why all
the security organizations in the country would be
involved in conducting an election all in a bid to
arrive at a pre-determined agenda.
“It is sad what I am witnessing today. I hope you
know the number of security that was deployed for
this poll. And they came with a pre-determined
agenda. Many of our members are being
intimidated, others have been arrested, some are in
hiding all because they are desperate to win.
‘I am not happy with the conduct of INEC so far.
Many of the NYSC members trained for this
exercise have been jettisoned and another set
brought in from Abuja. We don’t even know whether
they are actually NYSC members.
“In this town last night, more than 40 members of
the APC including an 80-year-old man were
arrested. The man was taken to Osogbo and later
dropped on the road while others were driven away.
“The man did not even know where he was
dropped. This is political brigandage, irresponsible
governance, unwarranted impunity. This is a threat
to democracy.
‘”My generation is on its way out; it is you the
young ones that I pity. If this election is rigged, it
will be the beginning of the end for our democracy.
This desperation towards 2015 is sad,” he said.
He called on INEC to allow the will of the people to
prevail, adding that the APC would accept the result
if it.
FG’s war on Osun people mustn’t go unchallenged
– Falana
Lagos lawyer and human rights activists, Mr Femi
Falana (SAN) said last night that despite Governor
Rauf Aregbesola’s victory in yesterday’s
governorship poll in Osun State, the war declared
by the federal government on the people of the state
must not go unchallenged.
In a statement he personally issued, Falana noted
that an election that was fully militarised to the
extent that people were arrested and detained and
disenfranchised cannot be said to be credible, fair
and free.
According to him, “the deployment of 73,000 armed
security personnel drawn from the Nigerian Armed
Forces, Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service,
Federal Road Safety Commission, Nigerian Prisons
Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,
Nigerian Security and Defence Corps etc. for the
election by President Goodluck Jonathan was a
declaration of war on the law abiding citizens of
Osun State”.
He lamented similar violations of the law that were
cordoned in the recently conducted election in Ekiti
state turned out to be the impunity that
characterised the governorship election in Osun
State yesterday.
He said, “Therefore, Governor Aregbesola as the
chief security officer of Osun state must ensure that
those who are responsible for the breaches of all
aspects of the law and the infringements of the
fundamental rights of innocent people are brought to
book.
“While congratulating Governor Rauf Aregbesola for
his well deserved victory in the Osun state
governorship election held on August 9, 2014 the
unprecedented militarization of the electoral
process should not be left unchallenged”.
Giving instance of human right violations during the
election, Falana said more disturbing was the
deployment of snippets who were permitted to wear
masks, adding that “the criminal elements engaged
in shooting sporadically into the air to intimidate the
people of Osun State.
“On the eve of the election they arrested many
people who did not commit any offense whatsoever.
One of such illegal arrests took place at Oke Ila in
Ifedayo local government where an 80-year old
lawyer, Chief Dapo Fakayode and 50 other people
were taken to an unknown destination.
“They were eventually traced to the compound of a
retired army captain at a neighboring town where
they were held incommunicado throughout the
duration of the election. Through my appeal to the
Police Authorities Chief Fakayode was released
unconditionally after he had spent over 10 hours in
illegal custody. But the 50 others were held illegally
and prevented from exercising their democratic
right to vote for the candidates of their choice.
(INEC) today declared incumbent Osun State
Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the winner of
Saturday’s governorship poll in the state.
According to the INEC, Aregbesola of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) won in 22 out of 30
local government areas of the state to defeat his
main challenger, Senator Iyiola Omisore of the
Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) who won in eight
local government areas.
Omisore’s running mate, Obada, PDP chairman lose
in their polling units
Leading lights of the APC had on Thursday obtained
an interlocutory injunction from an Ile-Ife high court
presided over by Justice A. Abdulkarim to restrain
the inspector-general of police and the director-
general of the State Security Service (SSS) from
tampering with their fundamental human rights
pending the determination of the main suit.
Initial failure of INEC to make identification tags
available for APC agents nearly disrupted the poll in
over 100 polling units across the state.
Also, the early results indicate that many of the
leaders of the PDP in the state lost in their polling
units. They include the PDP’s candidate’s running
mate Hon. Adejare Bello, former minister of state for
defence Erelu Olusola Obada, and the party’s
chairman Gani Ola-Oluwa.
Bello lost the election in his Ede North polling unit
where his party scored 30 votes as against APC’s
130 votes.
The state chairman of PDP, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa,
also lost the election in his Olorunda local
government polling unit where PDP scored 95 votes
as against APC’s 142 votes.
Aregbesola’s APC won the election in his Ifofin
Ward 08, Ilesa East local government where he got
214 to PDP’s 11 votes, while the acting chairman of
the APC in the state, Elder Lowo Adebiyi, did not
lose: APC trounced the PDP with 108 to 59 votes.
Former minister of state for defence Erelu Olusola
Obada lost her Ibodi, Atakumosa West local
government, polling unit where PDP scored 3 votes
while the APC scored 300 votes.
In Ede North where Senator Isiaka Adeleke hails
from, the APC scored 640 votes as against the
PDP’s 9 votes.
However, The PDP flagbearer, Senator Omisore,
made a strong showing in some polling units in Ife
zone: he scored 149 votes in Ife Central Ward 05,
Unit 01, while the APC scored 73 votes.
Also defecting former Osun State governor
Olagunsoye Oyinlola could not deliver to the APC,
which scored 61 votes as against PDP that scored
125.
Nonetheless, the election was preceded by claims
and reports of arrest of some members of the APC
by armed security operatives who allegedly
stormed their residences after nightfall.
Notwithstanding, the election was conducted under
a peaceful atmosphere in many towns.
The Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) made good its promise to ensure that
election materials arrived at polling units on time
while voting started as scheduled in many local
government areas.
Large turnout, tight security in Osogbo
There was a large turnout of voters in most of the
polling booths visited by LEADERSHIP Sunday early
yesterday in Osogbo, Osun State.
INEC officials were at their duty post as early as
8am with security agents complementing their
services.
As early as 8:25am, over 30 people had been
accredited to vote at Bishop Street Unit 002 in
Olorunda LGA, Osogbo.
Aregbesola expresses delight at election process
Governor Aregbesola has expressed delight at the
conduct of the governorship election in the state.
Aregbesola, who was accredited in Unit 1, Ward 8,
Ifofin, Ilesa, at 10:45am, said he was sure of victory
in the poll.
The governor, who was accompanied by his wife
Sherifat and his two children, urged the people of
the state to maintain the existing peace in the state.
Aregbesola walked from his Ilesa home with his
party supporters, expressing happiness with the
way the electorate conducted themselves.
Voters came out in large numbers while electoral
officers arrived promptly for the exercise.
Omisore votes, decries high rate of thuggery,
intimidation
Governorship candidate of the PDP Senator Omisore
cast his vote at Unit 3 in Ward 1 in Moore area of Ife
East LGA about noon.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after he cast his
ballot, he confirmed the arrest of members of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) for various electoral
offences.
He said, “We cannot say we have 100 per cent
confidence on INEC. You cannot have 100 per cent
confidence on any process that is managed by
human. Even as an engineer, you cannot have 100
per cent confidence on the efficiency of a machine.
We have arrested some All Progressives Congress
chieftains with electoral materials. There is
intimidation and high level of thuggery.
“With what I have seen, I can only pass 70 per cent
confidence on INEC.”
Obanikoro defends militarization in Osun
The minister of state for defence, Musiliu Obanikoro,
has defended the federal government’s decision to
involve the military in the Osun State governorship
election, saying that it would have resulted in
bloodletting.
The minister, while addressing journalists in Ibadan,
debunked the claim that he was in Osun State for
the election.
According to him, soldiers were drafted to Osun to
maintain peace and orderliness during the election.
“Our interest is having a free and fair election which
President Jonathan and we his disciples believe in.
If the military had not been drafted to Osun’s
election, blood would have been flowing there.
“You, gentlemen of the press, can see me in Ibadan
live and direct today (Saturday). As you too see, I
am not in Osun talk less of being part of the election
there,” he said.
He alleged that the APC had invaded Osun with
thugs, saying that what APC was doing was in
contradiction of electoral guidelines.
How gunmen stormed my house eve of election-
Sen. Salami
A chieftain of the APC, Senator Bayo Salami,
yesterday narrated how he and his family narrowly
escaped death at the hands of “gunmen” who
stormed his residence at the GRA in Osogbo, capital
of Osun State, at about 10:05pm on Friday.
The home of the former federal lawmaker is less
than five minutes’ walk from a police command and
directly opposite a court premises.
Salami, who represented Osun Central under the
Alliance for Democracy (AD) between 1999-2003,
told newsmen at his Olu-Ode polling unit that the
gunmen numbering about 15, including a lady, came
in a bus and a sport utility vehicle.
He said: “They beat up my security at the gate and
carried him away. They did all that, so me and my
family moved into one room.
“They shouted ‘open the door or will we will shoot it
down’. They shot at the door thinking it was a
wooden door. They shot at the door several times
but they could not gain entry. When you go to my
house now, you will see the pellets littered around.”
He said upon their failure to gain access to him and
his family, they turned on themselves, blaming one
another for the failure of their mission. “They fought
themselves before leaving my compound. They
were saying to themselves, ‘I told you we should
have come here earlier.”
On whether he reported the matter to the police, he
said, “I don’t have cause to go to the police. I sent
text to people who could help me out.”
He noted that he had a tip-off of an intended attack
on him, adding that he instructed his wife, who is
related to the minister of police affairs, Jelili
Adesiyan, challenging him on what had transpired.
He said masterminds of such attack deserve not to
live in the same society with decent people.
He said the minister replied saying he does not
deserve the kind of text message and allegation
against him.
Salami said the APC would win the election as it had
been a contest between the people of Osun and
Omisore. “This is desperation, not democracy. They
did it to me. I saw it live. With what they did
yesterday (Friday) night I now know they don’t have
decorum. I now know I am open for attack. If you
get to my house you will see all the evidence.”
My ordeal in the hands of security agents – Lai
Mohammed
Meanwhile, following the Gestapo arrest,
manhandling and release of APC spokesperson
Alhaji Lai Mohammed and other APC members
Friday night in Oshogbo, the party has accused
President Goodluck Jonathan of desecrating
national institutions by using it to clamp down on the
opposition.
Mohammed, who alongside Mr Sunday Dare, the
media aide to APC national leader Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, and Mr Afolabi Salisu, deputy chief
of staff to Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, was
nabbed by national security officials while in Osun
State Friday night, said they were lucky to be alive
to recount their experience , given their encounter
with the security officials.
In a statement he personally signed, the APC
spokesman said their offence was not beyond the
fact that he belongs to the opposition; other key
officials of the PDP were allowed to walk freely in
Osun State, he said.
The APC spokesman said, ‘’He desecrates national
institutions by wilfully using them against the
opposition. This is not the democracy that many of
our compatriots fought and died for. This is not the
Nigeria that was envisaged by our past heroes. It is
time for all concerned to step in and stop President
Jonathan before he brings the country crashing
down on our heads.
“Again, we call on President Jonathan to stop
deceiving the world. In one breath, this president
says he is committed to credible elections and that
his political ambition is not worth the life of any
Nigerian.
“In another, he sanctions state-sponsored
harassment, intimidation and even killing of ordinary
Nigerians by security forces that are now the
enforcement arm of the ruling party, all in the name
of politics.”
He explained that they were being driven to the
Government House in Oshogbo when they were
stopped at a military checkpoint by men in military
and DSS uniforms, all hooded and armed to the
teeth with AK-47 assault rifles, pistols and other
weapons.
He continued:” Since there was no curfew in Osun
State and people were moving around freely, we felt
it was a routine check.
‘’Suddenly, the men, some of them apparently
drunk, ordered us out of the car, took our phones,
pointed their assault rifles at our heads and said
‘you are under arrest’. They herded us into their
bus like animals and drove away. There is no doubt
that they knew who we are because I introduced
myself!
‘’From our encounter with our tormentors, there is
also no doubt that these were not just soldiers and
DSS officials; there were also ex-militants and
thugs, all clad in military and DSS uniforms but
apparently lacking in any training! We also
witnessed how men in military and DSS uniform
fired their guns at the gate leading to the residence
of Senator Isiaka Adeleke to force it open!
‘’We asked them why we were being arrested, but
they ignored our question as they drove for close to
one hour before veering into a compound that
turned out to be the offices of the DSS. There, we
met people who had been previously arrested and
stripped of their clothing, many of them bloodied
from the beatings to which they must have been
subjected.
‘’We were herded to one side as our tormentors
marched around triumphantly, in what could well
have been a scene from the Ukraine!
“We were waiting for our turn to be stripped of our
apparels and taken along with those who were
arrested earlier to the DSS cells when a man who is
apparently a senior DSS official intervened and
ordered our release. The men who arrested us,
apparently unhappy at the order to set us free,
rejected the order, until the man asserted his
authority and even accompanied us to where we
were arrested from.”
He said it was at this point they discovered that
their driver had been badly beaten and even robbed
of his personal belongings by the same security
agents being paid by the taxpayers to protect the
citizens.
‘’This arrest is not about Lai Mohammed, Sunday
Dare or Afolabi Salisu, whoever we may be, but
about the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of
Nigerians, ordinary Nigerians, to move around
freely, associate with any party of their choice and
express their opinions without being molested or
arrested.
‘’The way and manner we were harassed, arrested
and dehumanized on Friday night show that Nigerian
citizens can no longer be sure that the security
agents they encounter on the roads or anywhere
else are well-trained and highly-disciplined men
and women in the military, police, DSS and others
that we used to know.
“What we have now are Jonathan’s soldiers,
policemen and DSS officials who have since
stopped working for the nation but are now the
enforcement arm of the PDP.
‘’Our party, the APC, has no doubt whatsoever that
the depravity being exhibited under President
Jonathan’s watch, in the name of politics, has his
imprimatur. We have no doubt that elections, which
should be a celebration of democracy, have now
been turned to war because of the desperation of
President Jonathan to win re-election at all costs.
We have no doubt that the anarchic minister of state
for defence and minister of police affairs, who are
leading the ‘troops’ in Osun as they did in Ekiti, are
taking their cue from President Jonathan.
‘’If those ministers can move around freely in Osun
and elsewhere, why can’t other Nigerians,
irrespective of the party they belong to? If a PDP
hireling like Chris Uba can be put in the command of
50 soldiers of the Nigerian Army, why should
anyone still be under any illusion that the Nigerian
Army is still serving the nation? Where else in the
world is a thug commanding disciplined forces?
‘’We Lai Mohammed, Sunday Dare and Afolabi
Salisu are just fortunate to be alive. The guns
pointed at our heads by drunken armed men could
have gone off! Since our arrest took place in the
dark, we could have been driven to an unknown
destination and shot dead! This is a dangerous time
for Nigeria and her democracy. Irrespective of the
outcome of the Osun election, democracy has been
dealt a near-mortal blow. 73,000 ‘security agents’,
including the military, police, DSS, Civil Defence, ex-
militants, thugs and murderers, deployed to police
election in just one state? There is no better
indication that we are in a militarized democracy.”
Akande condemns usage of army, SSS for poll
Meanwhile, former national chairman of the APC
Chief Bisi Akande has condemned the usage of key
national institutions for partisan politics, saying that
it would spell doom for the nation.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP at his Ila Orogun
country home yesterday, Akande wondered why all
the security organizations in the country would be
involved in conducting an election all in a bid to
arrive at a pre-determined agenda.
“It is sad what I am witnessing today. I hope you
know the number of security that was deployed for
this poll. And they came with a pre-determined
agenda. Many of our members are being
intimidated, others have been arrested, some are in
hiding all because they are desperate to win.
‘I am not happy with the conduct of INEC so far.
Many of the NYSC members trained for this
exercise have been jettisoned and another set
brought in from Abuja. We don’t even know whether
they are actually NYSC members.
“In this town last night, more than 40 members of
the APC including an 80-year-old man were
arrested. The man was taken to Osogbo and later
dropped on the road while others were driven away.
“The man did not even know where he was
dropped. This is political brigandage, irresponsible
governance, unwarranted impunity. This is a threat
to democracy.
‘”My generation is on its way out; it is you the
young ones that I pity. If this election is rigged, it
will be the beginning of the end for our democracy.
This desperation towards 2015 is sad,” he said.
He called on INEC to allow the will of the people to
prevail, adding that the APC would accept the result
if it.
FG’s war on Osun people mustn’t go unchallenged
– Falana
Lagos lawyer and human rights activists, Mr Femi
Falana (SAN) said last night that despite Governor
Rauf Aregbesola’s victory in yesterday’s
governorship poll in Osun State, the war declared
by the federal government on the people of the state
must not go unchallenged.
In a statement he personally issued, Falana noted
that an election that was fully militarised to the
extent that people were arrested and detained and
disenfranchised cannot be said to be credible, fair
and free.
According to him, “the deployment of 73,000 armed
security personnel drawn from the Nigerian Armed
Forces, Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service,
Federal Road Safety Commission, Nigerian Prisons
Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,
Nigerian Security and Defence Corps etc. for the
election by President Goodluck Jonathan was a
declaration of war on the law abiding citizens of
Osun State”.
He lamented similar violations of the law that were
cordoned in the recently conducted election in Ekiti
state turned out to be the impunity that
characterised the governorship election in Osun
State yesterday.
He said, “Therefore, Governor Aregbesola as the
chief security officer of Osun state must ensure that
those who are responsible for the breaches of all
aspects of the law and the infringements of the
fundamental rights of innocent people are brought to
book.
“While congratulating Governor Rauf Aregbesola for
his well deserved victory in the Osun state
governorship election held on August 9, 2014 the
unprecedented militarization of the electoral
process should not be left unchallenged”.
Giving instance of human right violations during the
election, Falana said more disturbing was the
deployment of snippets who were permitted to wear
masks, adding that “the criminal elements engaged
in shooting sporadically into the air to intimidate the
people of Osun State.
“On the eve of the election they arrested many
people who did not commit any offense whatsoever.
One of such illegal arrests took place at Oke Ila in
Ifedayo local government where an 80-year old
lawyer, Chief Dapo Fakayode and 50 other people
were taken to an unknown destination.
“They were eventually traced to the compound of a
retired army captain at a neighboring town where
they were held incommunicado throughout the
duration of the election. Through my appeal to the
Police Authorities Chief Fakayode was released
unconditionally after he had spent over 10 hours in
illegal custody. But the 50 others were held illegally
and prevented from exercising their democratic
right to vote for the candidates of their choice.
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