Osun poll: APC alleges arrest of Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed that security operatives arrested Alhaji Lai Mohammed, its national publicity secretary in Osogbo, capital of Osun state very late on Friday.

The party, which had raised series of alarm in the buildup to the gubernatorial election in the state, earlier released a statement, saying that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was collaborating with the security agents to arrest leaders of APC, the ruling party in Osun.

Mr. Williams Adeleye, personal assistant to Mohammed, said the security agents suddenly interrupted a phone conversation that he was having with his boss and all attempts to reach him since the time of the arrest were unfruitful.

“I was on the phone with him when I suddenly heard voices, saying you are under arrest, enter this vehicle,” said Adeleye in a statement.

“Subsequent attempts to reach him failed as his numbers all rang out.”

Kunle Oyatomi, APC’s director of publicity, research and strategy, described the arrest as an indication that security agencies are partisan in the governorship poll, urging them against unwarranted provocation of its members across the state.

However, efforts to confirm the news from Folasade Odoro, the police spokeswoman in Osun, did not yield any result, as she neither answered her calls nor responded to a text message sent to her mobile phone.

Odor subsequently denied knowledge of the arrest.

Out of 1,407,222 registered voters in the state, a total of 986,117 eligible voters are expected to participate in the process of electing the leader that would preside over the affairs of Osun for the next four years.