THE Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has alleged the state government over the arrest and detention of 18 people, including members of the party and some students of the Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade.
The detained persons were arrested by the men of the Federal Special Anti -Robbery Squad (FSARS), at its Magbon headquarters, in Abeokuta, the state capital, at the constituency office of a member of the State House of Assembly, Honourable Adebiyi Adeleye, at Odemo Road, Isara, on Monday evening.
The lawmaker was equally arrested alongside the 18 people, who had come to break the Ramadan fast with him but was, however, granted bail on Wednesday.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that effort to secure the bail of the arrested and detained people had not yielded any positive result, till the time of filing this report.
Addressing newsmen on the development, the factional state chairman of the party, Hon. Sikirulahi Ogundele said the arrest of members of the party, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the party was unlawful.
Ogundele flanked by leaders of the party at the local government said the state government was behind their continued detention because the reason for their arrest was not stated.
He wondered why the people would continue to be in detention for over 72-hours without being charged to court.
The Chairman said the action of the State government was an attempt to clamp down on the opposition, saying the party in the state is feeling the pain of dejection.
He made a passionate appeal to the Inspection General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to investigate the matter, saying the party would approach the court for justice if those detained were not released within the next few hours.
ALSO READ:Â Civil servant slams N500m suit against DSS for unlawful detention
Ogundele said, “This is an embarrassment to the way political leaders had always conducted their affairs in the state. It is a dent on the image of the state to have detained a sitting lawmaker for about 48 hours.
“And for over 72 hours now, 18 persons who are members of the PDP and some students of the Gateway Polytechnic, Sapade, are still in detention at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad cells at Magbon in Abeokuta.
“They were arrested on Monday 4th June 2018, and up till now(Thursday, 7th) they were yet to be released.
“I have met the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, over the matter, he directed me to go and meet the officer-in-charge of SARS at Magbon.
“When I met him, he said they (victims) would be released on Wednesday 6th, June 2018. That never happened. But it was later I started hearing that they were acting on orders from above”.
When contacted, the Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, said the state government was not aware of anybody
being detained on government’s directive.
“As a government, we have no issue with anybody. We are not even aware anybody is detained anywhere. Whether anybody decamped yesterday or today, I’m not aware,” Adeoluwa said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Ogun State command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, could not confirm the incident at the time of filing this report.