Osun accuses police of political witch-hunt, command denies claims

File photo: Osun State map

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The Osun State Government has accused the State Command of the Nigerian Police Force of witch-hunting its officials and demanded an immediate end to the alleged actions.

The allegations were contained in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, and obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday.

The state government, which cautioned against “the unwholesome practice of witch-hunting its officials to serve political purpose,” stressed that the core responsibility of the police is to provide security for Nigerians irrespective of political persuasion, “not a tool of oppression.”

Expressing “concerns on the increasing pattern of entrenched political actors weaponising the police to intimidate and harass officials as the 2026 election draw closer,” the government alleged that the police “in cohort with some desperate politicians are doing everything to criminalise officials serving in the Adeleke administration through phantom petitions.”

The statement urged the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Police Service Commission “to beam its searchlight on Osun state over the unprofessional conducts of its officials,” noting that weaponising the police for political purposes contradicts the constitutional and legal duties of the service.

Alimi added, “As a government who has shown serious commitment to law and order, we find it alarming that officials in the government are being hounded by the police for political reasons.

“In a democracy as ours, holding political beliefs should not be a crime, and that is why we find it totally unacceptable for the Police to be targeting our officials on frivolous petitions.”

The statement continued, “At a time like this when the police is expected to be focused on taming insecurity and keeping Nigerians safe and secure, it is distasteful to note that some officers in the Osun State Command are running political errands, acting outside their core responsibilities to shutdown voices deemed to be critical of those behind their acts.”

It further read, “Very recently, several officials in this government were invited in what was clearly politically motivated witch-hunt in order to coerce them to dump the administration or silence them.

“The police job is to secure Nigerians, not to be pushed around by certain politicians for selfish purposes. If anyone feel offended by the opinion of others, the appropriate forum provided by the law is the court, not the Police that is already overwhelmed by the challenges of insecurity.”

The government urged police authorities to purge the command of compromised officers whose conduct “portrays them more as politicians than men of the police they ought to be,” warning that while its officials remain law-abiding, it would not hesitate to employ legal options to protect them from intimidation, harassment, and political oppression.

Responding to the allegations, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, dismissed the claims, insisting that operatives would continue to discharge their duties within the ambit of the law and without fear or favour.

Ojelabi stated, “They should pinpoint a particular person that was hunted or a petition that was treated as if a set of people are being hunted.

“Osun State Police Command is making it clear that we are not witch-hunting anybody for political or any other reason.

“We are only doing our job professionally. If there is any of such, they should come up with concrete proof.”

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