The Secretary to the Osun State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, has been released by the Osun State Police Command after being arrested during a raid at his residence in Osogbo.
His release was announced on Thursday by Pelumi Olajengbesi, spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, the group supporting Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid.
Olajengbesi, in a post on his verified Facebook page, thanked the Inspector-General of Police and the Osun State Commissioner of Police for releasing the SSG.
The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, also confirmed Igbalaiye’s release in a telephone conversation with journalists in Osogbo.
Igbalaiye and five other people were reportedly arrested on Wednesday following a police raid on his residence.
The police had said the operation was based on intelligence that a suspected criminal gang was operating from the location. According to the command, one of those arrested, Oladele Abiodun, was allegedly on the police watchlist in connection with criminal offences.
The police also said they recovered N4.81 million, two Permanent Voter Cards, a voter register covering Wards 1 to 15, a Dynabook laptop, a photocopy machine and a printer from the residence.
Ojelabi said the recovered items had been secured for forensic examination and further investigation, adding that the possession of cash and voters’ information raised concerns about possible electoral offences.
He said the ongoing investigation could lead to charges relating to vote buying, criminal conspiracy, harbouring or concealing a wanted criminal, among other offences.
However, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, had alleged that Igbalaiye’s arrest was ordered by the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, following an incident at an Independent National Electoral Commission stakeholders’ meeting.
Egbedun claimed that the commissioner ordered the arrest after some attendees allegedly booed him and he noticed the SSG laughing during the incident.
The police, however, denied the allegation, maintaining that the raid and arrests were carried out based on intelligence linking the suspects to alleged criminal activities and possible electoral offences.
Igbalaiye’s release comes as police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the raid and the items recovered from his residence continue.
