Osun First Lady leads women’s protest over alleged voter intimidation

The First Lady of Osun State, Mrs Titilola Adeleke, on Monday led a group of women to the state police command headquarters in Osogbo to protest alleged voter intimidation and demand a credible governorship election on August 15.

Adeleke was 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.

The protesters marched from Lameco through the West Bypass to the police command headquarters, where they submitted a letter of protest to the Police Commissioner in charge of election duties, CP Samuel Etaifo.

First Lady demands credible election

Addressing the police commissioner, Adeleke called for an election free from intimidation and alleged that some leaders of the Accord Party were being targeted for arrest by opposition elements.

She also referred to the reported arrest of the Commissioner for Environment the previous Friday, alleging 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.

Police assure protesters of peaceful election

Receiving the petition, CP Etaifo assured the protesters that the police would provide a peaceful atmosphere for the conduct of the August 15 governorship election.

He said the security situation in the state had improved since his deployment, but urged political actors to avoid activities capable of creating 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.

Police commissioner explains election mandate

Etaifo said he was deployed to Osun State on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police to stabilise the state and create an enabling environment for all political actors to participate in the election.

“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.

The police commissioner assured the protesters that their concerns would be reviewed and that the command would restrategise to address the issues raised in the petition.

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