Osun State First Lady, Titilola Adeleke, on Monday, led a protest by women in the state against alleged “indiscriminate arrest and violence” ahead of the Saturday, August 15 governorship election.
Mrs. Adeleke, who was joined by women from different groups of traders and artisans in the state, led the march, which started along the Osogbo-Ilobu Road and terminated at the road leading to the Osun State Police Command along the West Bypass.
State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ayobola Awolowo, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Market Affairs, Eniola Omotosho, among others, also attended the protest.
The female protesters bearing placards with various inscriptions such as “Election is not war,” “Stop indiscriminate arrest of our husbands,” “We want a free and fair election” and “Police must be neutral,” were, however, stopped from getting to the main entrance of the command.
But the Commissioner of Police in charge of the election, Samuel Etaifo, assured them that the command would address their concerns.
Mrs. Adeleke, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said the women stormed the streets to demand a peaceful election, urging the police to invite some notable chieftains of the All Progressives Congress for questioning over the rising incidents of violence in the state.
She said, “We are demanding a free and fair election in the forthcoming poll. We want peace; let there be peace. Invite APC chieftains for questioning. They should stop killing our husbands and children. Make them sign an undertaking. 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.”
The Osun First Lady subsequently presented a letter containing the protesters’ demands to the police commissioner.
Etaifo, in his response, said the command had worked hard to de-escalate tension in the state since his arrival, assuring the protesters that their demands would be considered.
The police commissioner said, “I have been here for the past two weeks. The IG was here because of the heightened tension in the state. For the first time in history, the IG directed the CP election to come three weeks to the election.
“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. Let us assume that you come out now and the other party comes out, then both of you meet; what will happen?
“We are going back and restrategising to attend to all your demands. Why I am discussing with you is because we don’t want tension before the election; we want peace. We cannot conduct an election in an insecure environment.
“I have a mandate from the IG to come to the state to stabilise things, give an enabling environment for every political actor to exercise their franchise, and create public confidence for everyone to come out to vote on election day.”
Etaifo warned that the police would not tolerate any act capable of negatively affecting Saturday’s election, adding that anyone caught violating the law would be arrested and taken to Abuja.
“If you are a manipulator of any election, that is even the worst. The IG and Nigeria will not forgive you. I will arrest you and take you to Abuja because this election is a federal election; we must get it right,” he said.
Etaifo commended the protesters for conducting a peaceful demonstration but urged them to return home to prevent any incident.
“I want to applaud you for this protest being peaceful, but I want to implore you to go back so that nothing will happen to you. I will assign my men to escort you back to where you started the protest from,” the police commissioner said.
