Osun state

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the National Publicity Secretary of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was arrested on
Friday in Osogbo, by alleged hooded security operatives,
has narrated his ordeal to Vanguard corespondent.
Mohammed, who said he was arrested for no reason aside
the fact that he belongs to the opposition party, said the
incident shows the level of illegality, lawlessness, anarchy
and intolerance to which the country has descended to
under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Related: APC Leaders Arrested/Released Hours To Osun
Election
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday in
Osogbo by Mohammed after he was released by his
detainees. The spokesman said he was arrested alongside
Mr. Sunday Dare, the Media Aide to APC National Leader
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Mr. Afolabi Salisu, Deputy
Chief of Staff to Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.
Read the statement below:
"We were being driven to the Government House when we
were stopped at a military check point by men in military
and DSS uniforms, all hooded and armed to the teeth with
AK-47 assault rifles, pistols and other weapons. Since there
was no curfew in Osun state and people were moving
around freely, we felt it was a routine check. Suddenly, the
men, some of them apparently drunk, ordered us out of the
car, took our phones, pointed their assault rifles at our
heads and said ‘you are under arrest’. They herded us into
their bus like animals and drove away. There is no doubt
that they knew who we are because I introduced myself!
"From our encounter with our tormentors, there is also no
doubt that these were not just soldiers and DSS officials,
there were also ex-militants and thugs, all clad in military
and DSS uniforms but apparently lacking in any training!
We also witnessed how men in military and DSS uniform
fired their guns at the gate leading to the residence of
Senator Isiaka Adeleke to force it open! We asked them why
we were being arrested, but they ignored our question as
they drove for close to one hour before veering into a
compound that turned out to be the offices of the DSS.
There, we met people who had been previously arrested
and stripped of their clothing, many of them bloodied from
the beatings to which they must have been subjected.
"We were herded to one side as our tormentors marched
around triumphantly, in what could well have been a scene
from the Ukraine! We were waiting for our turn to be
stripped of our apparels and taken along with those who
were arrested earlier to the DSS cells when a man who is
apparently a senior DSS official intervened and ordered our
release. The men who arrested us, apparently unhappy at
the order to set us free, rejected the order, until the man
asserted his authority and even accompanied us to where
we were arrested from.
"Back there, we discovered that our driver has been badly
beaten and even robbed of his personal belongings by the
same security agents being paid by the taxpayers to protect
the citizens, whose ranks have now been swelled, willingly,
by thugs and ex-militants, armed and dressed in official
uniforms by the PDP and sanctioned by the Jonathan-led
Federal Government!
”This arrest is not about Lai Mohammed, Sunday Dare or
Afolabi Salisu, whoever we may be, but about the
constitutionally-guaranteed rights of Nigerians, ordinary
Nigerians, to move around freely, associate with any party
of their choice and express their opinions without being
molested or arrested.
"The way and manner we were harassed, arrested and
dehumanized on Friday night show that Nigerian citizens
can no longer be sure that the security agents they
encounter on the roads or anywhere else are well-trained
and highly-disciplined men and women in the military,
police, DSS and others that we used to know. What we have
now are Jonathan’s soldiers, policemen and DSS officials
who have since stopped working for the nation but are now
the enforcement arm of the PDP.
Related: Osun Election: APC Lays Huge Allegations
Against Commissioner Of Police
"As we write this, APC leaders and members are still being
harassed and arrested across Osun State. We have just
received reports that our members were arrested in Ifelodun
Local Government Ward 10, Atakumosa East Local
Government and Ife East Local Government, Okerewe
Wards 2 and 3. Over all we have ninety-seven leaders of
our party in detention and the arrest has not stopped. This
cannot be right" the statement reads.