Police arrest Sen Ademola Adeleke on old trump up charges

The campaign organisation of Senator Ademola Adeleke, on Monday, raised the alarm over his alleged arrest by the Police in Abuja on old trump up charges of certificate and testimonial forgery.

In a press statement forwarded to Tribune Online in Osogbo, Adeleke campaign organisation said his arrest came after “his secondary school principal and school authority have through affidavits denied any forgery and owned up to the school testimonial issued to Senator Adeleke.”

The statement reads “Senator Adeleke had this morning honoured police invitation at the force headquarters, Abuja. He arrived at the force headquarters at 9 am and was not attended to until later in the afternoon when he was informed of fresh charges of testimonial forgery.”

“The distinguished Senator was taken to Maitama Police station with plans to arraign him tomorrow at an undisclosed Magistrate court.

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We alert the world to the systematic harassment and victimisation of Senator Adeleke over his pursuit of the retrieval of the governorship mandate freely conferred on him by the people of Osun state.”

“A tribunal has declared him duly elected and a ruling on the appeal is pending. Yet, the police in connivance with the appellants have decided to unjustly incarcerate and raise trumped up charges which have been clarified by relevant authorities.”

The Principal of the secondary school attended by Senator Adeleke, Mr Khalid Adejare Abbas testified through an affidavit before Bwari High Court that the school indeed issued the testimonial. WAEC equally testified that the Senator sat for the examination.”

“For the Police to revive this old clarified issue confirms political vendetta. We call for urgent intervention of well-meaning Nigerians to stop this emerging rape of democracy. The case for which the Police is acting is subjudice. It is sad to note that the Police appears to have become a tool in the hands of enemies of rule of law.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun in a release by its chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo said the Police and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should be held responsible should anything untoward happen to Adeleke.

According to the release, “we are charging Nigerians and the International community to hold the Nigeria Police Force and the All Progressive Congress responsible if anything tragic happens to the governorship candidate of our party and current Senator, Ademola Adeleke.

“The arrest of the Osun governorship candidate who recently won an election petition and declared as the rightful winner of the September 22nd 2018 Governorship election is a clear case of political desperation taken too far by the Police which is obviously executing a script of the APC.”

Adagunodo added that the arrest was “fuelling speculation of an attempt to put Senator Adeleke in harm’s way to prevent him from conclusively retrieving the mandate freely given him by the good people of Osun State.”

The PDP said the public should recall that Senator Adeleke had an urgent Medical need which made a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered that his International passport be released to him to travel abroad for immediate medical attention.

“The court also ordered that the Senator should return to Nigeria by the first week of June to answer whatever charges the Police claim that they have against him.”

“The party then wondered why the Police would arrest and frustrate an urgent  medical trip of a citizen who has never shunned any Police summon or jumped bail in any of the trumped up charges against him in the courts of the land.”

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“It should interest members of the public to know that the offence for which the Police has again arrested and detained Senator Adeleke is based on the same facts which competent courts of the land are currently handling, including an ongoing  appeal against a judgement  of an FCT High Court in Bwari.”

It is also a matter to be taken serious note of that the citizen in question has been declared the Governor-elect of a State by a competent tribunal and is currently defending that judicial victory at the Court of Appeal.

“The PDP is by this statement calling on well-meaning Nigerians, the Civil Society and Human rights community to intervene in the serial, vicious and clearly unjustifiable oppression of Senator Ademola Adeleke by the Powers that be using the Nigeria Police Force as a tool.”.

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Inspector General of Police to order and urge him to refrain from ongoing attempts to frustrate a valid court order which has granted Senator Ademola Adeleke permission to travel abroad for his medicals”, the release concluded.