Honourable Sunday Babalola, chairman of a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of Oyo State, has alleged that another faction of the party is using the police to harass and intimidate him.
Babalola made the allegation in a WhatsApp message to Newscoven.ng, pointing fingers at the Mr Isaac Omodewu-led faction of the party as the mastermind of the alleged police intimidation.
The APC chieftain claimed that the police officers, allegedly drawn from the State CID, Iyaganku Police Headquarters, stormed his house, last Thursday, but did not meet him at home.
Babalola said the law enforcement agents left an invite for him, only for him to be arrested and detained, on Tuesday, when he eventually honoured the invite.
He said the police action was informed by a petition allegedly written by the Omodewu-led faction of the Oyo State chapter of the APC
He said he was accused of falsely parading himself as a local government chairman of the party and that his conduct may cause a breach of peace, adding that both accusations could however not be proved.
“Policemen swooped on my residence last Thursday to effect my arrest. Unfortunately, they did not meet me at home, but they left an invite.
“However, I showed up at the State CID, Iyaganku Police Headquarters, this morning [Tuesday] only to be arrested and detained by the police for the entire day.
“It was informed by a petition written by the Omodewu faction, that my conduct in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area is likely to breach peace.
“I was accused of parading myself as the the local government chairman of the party and also of forgery, both allegations which they have not been able to adequately prove.
“Honourable Zubair waded in and demanded that the petition be withdrawn forthwith. I was granted bail at around after 6pm today [Tuesday].
“Honourable Saheed Fijabi, a former member of the House of Representatives, stood as surety for my bail. All this happened at the State CID, Iyaganku, Ibadan,” Honourable Babalola, stated in the WhatsApp message.
Efforts to get the Oyo APC factional chairman, Mr Isaac Omodewu, to react to the allegation was abortive, as he did not respond to a text message and also a WhatsApp message sent to his MTN line, more than 17 hours after.
