Posted by By Tunde Odesola and Olalekan Adetayo on
Respite on Monday came for Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who was arrested on Sunday by the police....
Respite on Monday came for Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who was arrested on Sunday by the police.
Aregbesola who was arrested in connection with Saturdays violent clash in Osogbo between his supporters and those of the Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was granted bail on self-recognition.
The commissioner, who is one of those seeking to contest the gubernatorial election in Osun State in 2007, was before his release detained at the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti Street, Yaba.
His release came just as Oyinlola, in a state broadcast on Monday, warned that his administration would not tolerate political violence.
Aregbesola was said to have been moved to the SCID after the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Adebayo, personally interrogated him at the command headquarters on Sunday.
The commissioner, shortly after his release, told our correspondent on the phone that he was asked to report at the police headquarters on Tuesday (today).
He said, They told me to report at 9am tomorrow (Tuesday). To me, its a limited victory. Their intention is to destabilise me and make it impossible for me to run. Their plan will not succeed.
They plan to take me to court and convict me so that I cannot run. They fabricated lies and promoted tissues of falsehood. We know where they are coming from. Their plan will not work.
But Oyinlola, in the broadcast to the people of the state following the Saturdays incident urged politicians to display a sense of maturity in their campaign.
He said, Recent occurrences on the political terrain of our state have made it imperative for me to address you, purposely to invite your attention to the need for our politicians to exercise restraint and conduct themselves with decorum. Specifically, I wish to condemn in their entirety, all acts of violence, intimidation and brigandage exhibited by some politicians in their quest for power.
In an attempt to exercise freedom guaranteed by democracy, some politicians have deliberately and consistently chosen to overstep their lawful limits, by engaging in violence with the attendant consequences of social disturbances.
Let me state with all emphasis at my command, that a repeat occurrence of disruptions to public peace will NOT be tolerated or allowed to occur in this state forthwith. Enough is enough.
Meanwhile, the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr.Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and the Oranmiyan Campaign Group on Monday, criticised Aregbesolas arrest, describing it as an act against humanity and sportsmanship.
In his ruling during the assemblys session on Monday, Ikuforiji, said the arrest was a desperate attempt to silence the opposition, adding that it was a challenge to all progressives.
The Coordinator of the campaign group, Mr. Layi Oyeduntan, at a press conference in Lagos on Monday, alleged that the violence in Osogbo on Saturday were sponsored by certain political office holders and functionaries.
The Advanced Congress of Democrats, in a statement by its Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also accused Oyinlola of promoting a climate of political intolerance and violence.
The Conference of National Political Parties, Osun State Chapter, however, called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, to transfer the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sulaimon Fakai.
It said at a news conference on Monday in Osogbo that the reaction of the state police command to the violence was biased.
The state Chairman of the CNPP, Alhaji Sule Alao, referring to a newspaper advert by the police command, said it was wrong of the police to jump into conclusion that Engineer Rauf Aregbesola and his supporters caused the Osogbo violence.
It condemned the attack on Aregbesola and his supporters, stressing that political violence was a threat to democracy.
But Fakai, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, on Monday, said the police would not allow lawlessness by any group or persons.
He said, Should the police allow people to bear cutlasses and knives. I wont allow that in the state.