THE Osun State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a serving member of the state House of Assembly, Abiola Ibrahim, alongside 143 persons allegedly brought into the state to participate in the governorship election.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ojelabi Abiodun, confirmed the development to The ICIR that the arrests were carried out in the early hours of Saturday by operatives of the Force Intelligence Department Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT), following what the police described as intelligence gathered on the movement and mobilisation of suspected voters.
“Information was gathered by the Intelligence Response Team and he was arrested in the break of the day. He is currently with the Force Intelligence Department Intelligence Response Team,” Abiodun said.
Abiodun noted that Ibrahim represents the Irewole/Isokan State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly and is a member of the Accord Party.
According to a video circulating online, Ibrahim was seen responding to questions from some persons behind the camera at his premises, as he acknowledged that some of the people at the residence were residents of Ikire, while others were allegedly from outside Osun State.
The Police questioned whether the arrangement was connected to an attempt to influence voting in the election, and Ibrahim said he brought them to vote.
The police also reportedly recovered about 200 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) during the operation, although further details on the ownership and circumstances surrounding the recovered cards had not been made public at the time of filing this report.
Abiodun said that the identities of the 143 arrested persons could not be disclosed yet because investigation was ongoing.
The arrest comes as voters across Osun State head to polling units to elect their next governor, with security agencies warning against electoral malpractice, voter inducement, vote buying, and violence.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.