Adeleke Camp Protests Release Of APC Assembly Candidate Arrested With Gun

The Imole Campaign Council, the campaign organisation of Governor Ademola Adeleke, has protested the release of an All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly candidate, Babatunde Festus Komolafe, who was arrested by the Nigerian Navy after a gun was allegedly found in his possession.

A statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by the council’s spokesman, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said Komolafe, popularly known as BFK and the APC candidate for Atakumosa East/West Federal Constituency, was apprehended in his hometown, Ifewara, on Thursday, alongside his supporters, during a routine search by naval personnel.

According to the statement, the arrest occurred after a gun was allegedly discovered in a campaign vehicle reportedly belonging to the APC in which Komolafe and his co-travellers were arrested.

Olajengbesi said a video showing the suspects had since gone viral, attracting public outrage, but that the suspects were “immediately released following pressure from APC top goons,” adding that a news outlet had chronicled how the naval officer in charge “was forced to release the suspects and asked to step aside.”

While commending the Nigerian Navy for what it described as neutrality and professionalism since the commencement of campaigns, the council insisted that the release of a suspect “caught with an unauthorised gun is unacceptable,” warning that it “sends the wrong signal to political criminals whose pastime is killing and maiming.”

Olajengbesi cited a similar past incident, alleging that two weeks earlier, police had moved against military personnel to rescue five APC loyalists, including one Asiri Eniba, who had been arrested by the Navy for shooting sporadically in Ile-Ife with pump-action guns.

The council called on the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to investigate the matter, stressing that “no politician is above the law, and no political thug should be released to keep fomenting trouble.”