The high command have been implicated in the drama playing out in Oyo over the detention of Oodua People’s Congress’ men who had arrested and handed over Iskilu Wakili, accused of sponsoring killer herdsmen in the state.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, claimed the police command received orders to detain the OPC men, perhaps to cover up the alleged involvement of Mr. Wakili in the killing and marauding in the South-West state.
Peoples Gazette earlier reported that Mr. Wakili, accused of executing crimes in Ayete and neighbouring villages in Ibarapaland, was arrested in the forest Sunday after a confrontation with the OPC.
He was later handed over to the police in Aiyete, but the security agency arrested three OPC members for killing one person and burning Mr. Wakili’s house.
Mr. Adams, while reacting to the detention of the OPC members in an interview with Daily Independent, said alleged that the DPO of Igbo-Ora, who earlier sought collaboration with the vigilance group on Mr. Wakili’s arrest, turned his back on the men.
“If they want us to have confidence in them again, they have to celebrate these gallant OPC men who arrested and handed him (Mr. Wakili) over to them instead of arresting them for carrying out a noble cause.
“They claimed that one person died during the operation. If you go to the den of a kidnapper to arrest people, anything can happen in the process. The DPO of Igbo-Ora had been discussing with our OPC men in the area, asking them if there was any way they could assist in arresting Wakili.”
Condemning the arrest of the OPC members, Mr. Adams added, “They (the police) have been strategising together for the past two months, but because there is an order from above, he now turned against the same people that helped in arresting the criminal the police couldn’t arrest.
“The question now is, next time, if there is a bigger problem and they beg the OPC to arrest him, will the OPC assist them? So, with what you have done to OPC members in the case of Wakili, who will trust you again?”
He claimed further, “The police took sides with him (Mr. Wakili) in the drama by taking him to the hospital for medical attention. Nothing happened to him because our boys did not manhandle him.
“Even if anything had happened to him in the course of the operation, it would have been justified because he is a criminal who has done more evil to innocent people in that area.”
