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Osoba arrested, released on N50 m bail
•I don’t know my
offence -Osoba
•PDP wants to intimidate us- AD
bolaji tunji sisaa agboh
Deputy Editor News
Editor
Former governor of Ogun State ,
Aremo Segun Osoba was yesterday arrested by the police in Lagos over the
lingering face-off between him and the incumbent governor, Otunba Gbenga
Daniel. He was however, released after signing a N50m bail bond two and half
hours later.
The two men have been locked in a
battle following Tuesday’s attack on the convoy of Governor Daniel and
that of his wife in Ilaro, Ogun State.
While the governor had accused his
predecessor of masterminding the attack, the later had denied same arguing that
he has only being dragged into a case he was not involved in.
But in a dramatic turn to the story,
the police yesterday swooped on the Victoria Island, Lagos residence of Osoba
and effected his arrest around 7.00pm. However, the police at the Zone 2
Command Onikan, Lagos where the ex-governor was taken to, said, he was “merely invited to give his
own statement on the attack on the convoy of Gbenga Daniel and his wife on
Tuesday.”
The police, led by a Superintendent
of Police (SP) Monday Agbonika, who is also the zonal spokesman for the police,
arrived Osoba’s house in an Operation-Fire-for-Fire vehicle with registration number PF
5075B and sought to have audience with him.
After few minutes with the ex-governor,
they reqested that he (Osoba) accompanied them to the Zone 2 Command
headquarters, Onikan, for a chat.
Osoba initially resisted the request
and immediately contacted some personalities in the presidency who advised him
to do as the police requested.
In company of his wife, Derin, and
his son, Olumide, who served as his driver, the ex-governor left with the
police in his gold colour Mercedes Benz Jeep with registration number LT10AAA.
The journey from Osoba’s
house on Bourdilon Road, Ikoyi to
the police headquarters lasted
15 minutes and on arrival, he was taken to the office of the Assistant
Inspector-General (AIG) of police, Gazali Lawal, where he was interrogated.
Osoba’s daughter who later
heard of the arrest, rushed to the police zonal headquarters but was at first
denied access to him until 20 minutes later.
An aide to the ex-governor who spoke
on the basis of anonymity, confirmed the arrest and said he spoke with his boss
on phone around 8.00 pm Friday.
In a swift reaction, a chieftain, of
the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora (Lagos East)
described the arrest as unfortunate saying however that if it was in line with
police investigation, then, “they should follow due process.”
He advised the police to be careful
in their approach to the situation so as not to aggravate the situation.
The senator said that if the
situation was not handled with care, it could be misconstrued for witch-hunting
and “this can further escalate the already tense situation.”
The Alliance for Democracy in its
reaction expressed shock over the development saying it was a grand design by
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to intimidate members of the AD and other
parties.
In an interview by our reporter, the
National Director of Publicity, Research and Statistics, Prince Dayo Adeyeye
sai d “the AD is till studying the situation and will react
accordingly.”
In the heat of the face-off between
the duo, an aide to Osoba had said the fingers being pointed at the ex-governor
over the attack on Daniel’s
convoy and that of his wife, were misplaced.
“Aremo Osoba has nothing to do
with it. In fact, it is Osoba
whose life and property are being threatened. A plot to burn down Osoba’s home in Abeokuta by
suspected PDP thugs has just been uncovered. Right now, the house is being guarded round the clock by the
police,” said the aide.
The aide further said that the fear
of not getting a second term was what was behind Governor Daniel’s
desperate moves.
“Daniel is frustrated and
jittery. He is grabbing at straws
because his informants have told him that the last AD convention showed that
the Ogun AD is set to recapture the state. He is afraid that 2007 won’t happen for him. This is not about Osoba. It is about 2007.”
The aide who pleaded anonymity said
it is not Osoba’s security details who killed students in Ilaro, but
Daniel’s.
“If he continues like this, he
will end up managing crisis for the rest of his tenure. Daniel must remember that Ogun State is
renowned for peace. He should not
turn it into a battlefield,” he said.
Saturday Independent also gathered that there are moves
to reconcile with a strong PDP chieftain, Senator Ibikunle Amosun who was
suspended from the party sometime ago.
The move according to investigation
is to prevent Amosun from joining the Alliance for Democracy.
When contacted, the Special Adviser
to the Governor of Ogun State on Media and Strategy, Mr. Shina Ogunbambo,
however denied the plot to burn Aremo Osoba’s Abeokuta home.
“There is no iota of truth in
the story going the rounds that some people allegedly loyal to Ogun State
governor, Otunba Daniel planned to burn down the country home of Chief
Osoba.”
“There is no reason to want to
harm Osoba”, he said.
Meanwhile, another AD chieftain and
gubernatorial hopeful, Otunba Dipo Dina hals also alleged that PDP thugs
vandalised his house in Ijebu-Ode on Wednesday.
He told Saturday Indpendent, “At about 3.15 p.m., some
people suspected to be PDP thugs came to my house in a bus with covered number
plate and told my guard they were looking for me.
“The guard refused them entry
and they started shooting into the air.
They also came with bottles packed in a rice bag which they threw at the
gate and garden lamps.”
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