Fresh political tension has gripped Osun State barely weeks before the August 15 governorship election, following allegations by the state government that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force raided the residences of top government officials, even as a High Court restrained the police from further arresting or harassing Senator Kamorudeen Olalere Oyewumi.
The Osun State Government on Tuesday accused the police of carrying out what it described as “Gestapo operations” against senior officials, alleging that the actions were capable of undermining the credibility of the forthcoming governorship poll.
Addressing journalists, the Commissioner for Information, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, claimed that operatives led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations stormed the residence of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) while he was attending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stakeholders’ forum in Osogbo.
According to Alimi, members of the SSG’s family were allegedly taken away during the operation.
He further alleged that the residence of the Commissioner for Energy in Ikire was raided on Monday, with properties reportedly vandalised, adding that at least five other commissioners had also reported that their homes were being monitored and forcibly entered by security operatives.
The commissioner also claimed that several members of the Accord Party were being detained in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) without being granted bail.
Describing the operations as politically motivated, Alimi accused the police of acting in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The police have become a major threat to the conduct of free and fair election in Osun State,” he alleged.
The government appealed to traditional rulers, the Inspector-General of Police, the National Security Adviser and President Bola Tinubu to intervene, warning that the security situation in the state was deteriorating.
“We again call the attention of our traditional rulers, the Nigeria Police Service, the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to this escalation,” Alimi said.
He urged residents to remain calm but cautioned that “the situation is reaching a boiling point.”
The allegations came as INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, met with political stakeholders in Osogbo as part of preparations for the August 15 governorship election.
Meanwhile, an Osun State High Court has restrained the Nigeria Police Force from further arresting, inviting or harassing Senator Kamorudeen Olalere Oyewumi, representing Osun West Senatorial District.
Delivering judgment in Suit No. HRE/M.15/2026, Justice J.O. Owolawi held that the repeated invitations, threats of arrest and alleged intimidation of the senator over the 2025 Ikire political crisis amounted to an abuse of power and violated his constitutional rights.
The court ruled that the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 11 and other police officers had no lawful justification for what it described as their “consistent, persistent and continuous acts of intimidating, victimization, incessant invitations and threatening of arrest” against the lawmaker.
Justice Owolawi observed that the respondents failed to file a counter-affidavit challenging the senator’s claims, holding that the uncontroverted affidavit contained “credible, compellable and cogent facts.”
The court consequently granted a perpetual injunction restraining the police, their agents and privies from “disturbing, arresting, intimidating, harassing, inviting and molesting” Senator Oyewumi.
In his affidavit before the court, the senator stated that he became a target of repeated police actions following the February 17, 2025 political violence in Ikire, which claimed several lives, including that of APC chieftain Remi Abass.
Oyewumi told the court that although he was granted bail on self-recognition, some of his associates were detained in Abuja for two months, while one of them, Adelugba Ademola, allegedly died in custody.
He also maintained that despite earlier investigations clearing him of wrongdoing, police authorities continued to invite him for questioning, saying he honoured more than eight invitations in Ikire, Osogbo and Abuja.
Justice Owolawi held that the police actions breached the senator’s constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and freedom of movement as guaranteed under Sections 35, 36 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and ruled in his favour.
