Adeleke’s wife leads women in protest against arrest, violence in Osun

The Osun State First Lady, Titilola Adeleke, on Monday led a protest by women in the state against what they described as “indiscriminate arrest and violence” ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

Adeleke, who was joined by women from different groups of traders and artisans in the state, led the march, which commenced along the Osogbo-Ilobu Road and terminated at the road leading to the Osun State Police Command along the West Bypass.

Also present at the protest were the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ayobola Awolowo, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Market Affairs, Eniola Omotosho, among others.

The protesters, armed with placards bearing 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 prevented from proceeding to the main entrance of the command.

They were, however, attended to by the Commissioner of Police in charge of the election, Samuel Etaifo, who assured them that the command would address their concerns.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Adeleke said the women were on the streets to demand a peaceful election and called on 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 governor’s wife subsequently presented a letter containing the protesters’ demands to the police commissioner.

Responding, Etaifo said the command had worked hard to de-escalate tension in the state since his arrival and assured the protesters that their demands would be considered.

“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?” Etaifo said.

He added, “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.

The police commissioner 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,” he said.]