Osun State First Lady, Titilola Adeleke, on Monday led hundreds of women in a protest against what they called “indiscriminate arrests and violence” ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Mrs Adeleke was joined by members of traders’ and artisans’ associations in the state. The march began on Osogbo-Ilobu Road and ended at the road leading to the Osun State Police Command on West Bypass.
The State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ayobola Awolowo, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Market Affairs, Eniola Omotosho, were also part of the demonstration.
The protesters carried placards with messages including “Election is not war,” “Stop indiscriminate arrest of our husbands,” “We want a free and fair election” and “Police must be neutral.” Security operatives stopped them from entering the main gate of the command.
They were later addressed by the Commissioner of Police in charge of the election, Samuel Etaifo, who promised to look into their complaints.
Speaking for the group, Mrs Adeleke said the women were demanding peace before and during the election. She urged the police to question some APC leaders over recent attacks in the state.
“We are demanding a free and fair election in the forthcoming poll. We want peace; let there be peace,” she said. “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.”
Mrs Adeleke later handed a letter containing the protesters’ demands to the police commissioner.
Responding, Etaifo said the command had been working to reduce tension since his deployment two weeks ago. He noted that the Inspector General of Police also visited the state because of the rising tension.
“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,” he said.
“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?”
The police commissioner said the command would review the demands.
“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,” he said.
“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 allow any action that could disrupt the election, and said offenders 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.
He commended the women for a peaceful protest and directed his men to escort them back to the take-off point.
“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.