Isese: OPU faults Talolorun’s prolonged detention, restates call for release

Prominent Yoruba diaspora socio-cultural organisation, the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), has kicked against the prolonged detention of popular online presenter and activist, Adegbola Abdulazeez, also known as Talolorun, by the Kwara State Police Command, saying the police had trampled upon the rights of the activist, even as it again called for his release.

OPU expressed this concern on Thursday in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Chief Victor Mobolaji Adewale, pointing out that the situation surrounding the issue for which the activist was arrested in Ibadan and taken to Ilorin for trial showed that there was more to the detention of the online presenter, who was alleged to have insulted the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, and caused a public disturbance.

OPU, while appealing to Kwara State Governor Abdul Rahman Abdul Rasaq to intervene and ensure that Talolorun is released, also condemned the manner in which the online presenter was arrested, arraigned, and detained by the Magistrate’s Court in Ilorin, the state capital, described as unconstitutional.

This was just as the diaspora organisation alleged that the activist was arrested for offences he didn’t commit but on trumped-up charges that were also based on religious pettiness and intolerance.

“We are appealing to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq to intervene and ensure that Talolorun who was detained in respect of the Ilorin religious crisis was released.

“Detaining a citizen for 30 days without trial is nothing but an illegal detention. It is unconstitutional because it is an infringement on his right to freedom.

“Talolorun was alleged to have committed offences ranging from defamation of character to causing public disturbance. All the offences have their punishments under the law.

“The viral video of his arrest in the public domain is a calculated attempt to paint the activist as a common criminal. That is cruel and inhumane,” the group said.

“As a Yoruba diaspora organisation presently in 97 countries across the world, we believe that the secularity of the Nigerian nation must be respected at all times, especially between religious leaders.

“All over the world, the issue of religion is a thing of the mind, and it is also secondary. Any society that fails to understand the diversity of humanity on the issue of religion will continue to experience protracted religious crises, as we experience daily in Nigeria.

“Arresting and detaining a person because of his or her religious belief is nothing but pure religious chauvinism and intolerance. And it is bad for a country like Nigeria.

“So, we are appealing to the Kwara State governor to intervene and ensure that those detained are released for them to enjoy their rights to freedom,” he added.

Speaking further, OPU said it was illegal to have arrested Talolorun in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and taken him to Ilorin for trial, positing that based on Nigerian law, if someone was arrested in Ibadan, as the case may be, he or she was “supposed to be tried in the same Ibadan, the place where the crime was committed.”

It further posited that for any suspect to be arrested in one place and taken to another state for trial when it was not a civil case to be handled by a Federal High Court was illegal, adding: “We must not establish a bad presence in this country because of religion.”

“Talolorun was arrested in Ibadan on August 16 in Ibadan and taken to Ilorin for trial. It is unconstitutional.

“In Nigerian law, if someone is arrested in Ibadan, as the case may be, he or she is supposed to be tried in the same Ibadan, the place where the crime was committed.

“For any suspect to be arrested in one place and taken to another state when it is not a civil case to be handled by a Federal High Court is illegal. We must not have a bad presence in this country because of religion,” OPU said.

“The arrest and prolonged detention of the online presenter is an infringement of his right as a Nigerian citizen.

“For instance, his case was a reference to the content of sedition, a law that had been abolished by the civilian government,” the group added.

OPU, however, restated the need to give a fair hearing to the activist, describing the detention of the activist as an act capable of causing a religious crisis.

This was just as the diaspora group berated the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ebun Adelesi, for being biased and also abetting religious bigots to trample upon the rights of the detained online presenter.

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