Due to reported threats against Accord Party members and supporters in Ijeshaland, Osun State, the Imole Campaign Council, TICC, has demanded that Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi be arrested and prosecuted.Bamidele Salam, the campaign council’s chairman of media and publicity, made the demand in a statement released on Tuesday.The council made the request in response to a widely shared video that allegedly showed Osun East Senatorial District representative Fadahunsi instigating members of the All Progressives Congress against Accord supporters in advance of Saturday’s governorship election.The senator allegedly encouraged APC supporters to attack Accord members wherever they could be found in Ijeshaland, according to TICC.
The campaign council described the claimed comments as an open call to violence and a threat to the lives of Accord supporters and their families, saying it was “gravely alarmed and disturbed” by the footage.TICC further claimed that the development supported information it had received about the purported movement of thugs, hoodlums, and people posing as police officers into communities in Obokun, Oriade, Ilesa East, Ilesa West, Atakumosa East, and Atakumosa West Local Government Areas, as well as into Ilase, Fadahunsi’s hometown.Additionally, the council claimed that Fadahunsi made reference to “federal might” when threatening to deny voting rights to Accord supporters, even if they showed their Permanent Voter Cards at polling places on Saturday.
The campaign council stated that the senator had a constitutional duty to protect the rule of law and described the accusation as especially serious because Fadahunsi is a current member of the National Assembly.
“We feel compelled to demand that the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services order the arrest of Senator Fadahunsi and prosecute him in accordance with relevant laws of the Federation,” the council said.
In order to protect voters, political supporters, and locals, TICC also urged security personnel assigned to the election to focus especially on the six local government areas in Ijeshaland.The council asked the security services to look into claims that Ilase and other areas of Ijeshaland are home to armed thugs and phony police officers.It also brought up accusations regarding the actions of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), stating that in recent weeks, Fadahunsi’s assistant, ASP Wemimo, had guided IRT agents to the residences of local Accord leaders.The council additionally claimed that Alaba Popoola, its candidate for the House of Representatives, was kidnaped by the team on Fadahunsi’s purported orders and is still being held by the police.
TICC issued a warning, threatening to hold Fadahunsi responsible for any violence purportedly committed against Accord members in Ijeshaland and other areas of Osun State.However, the campaign council emphasized the significance of exercising citizens’ constitutional right to vote in Saturday’s governorship election while urging them to maintain their composure.As of the time this report was filed, the campaign council’s accusations had not been independently confirmed, and Fadahunsi was not mentioned in the statement as addressing the accusations.Days before the Osun governorship election on August 15, the development takes place amid heightened political tensions and conflicting claims of violence and intimidation among major political party supporters.
