Akoko: Police arrest Ogunniya with ballot boxes
From James Sowole in Akure, 12.06.2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009

Two ballot boxes stuffed with thumb printed papers were yesterday allegedly recovered in the vehicle conveying the Senator representing Ondo Central District in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Gbenga Ogunniya, during the bye-election of the Akoko South West and Akoko South East Federal Constituency.

Senator Ogunniya in fez cap being accosted by security operatives
PHOTO: Nigerian Tribune

Ogunniya, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, was in the vehicle along with members representing Akoko North East and North West Federal Constituency, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, Hon Temitayo Fawehinmi of the Ondo East and Ondo West Constituency and Hon Emmanuel Adedeji of the Ile-Oluji/Odigbo Federal Constituency.

The wine-coloured Peugeot 407 marked MHR 331 was later taken along with two other cars of similar brands with covered number plates, two police patrol vehicles with mobile policemen and two buses with suspected thugs to Kese Police Station.

However, after more than two hours at the station, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Muktar Abbas, who was deployed specially for the election exercise from Markurdi, Benue State, said the senator and other federal lawmakers were not arrested.

The convoy of the senator along with his colleagues in the lower chamber were intercepted by that of the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Ali Olanusi at Owalagba area of Oka in Akoko South West Local Government.

The thugs, who were said to be carrying ballot boxes from polling units, were suspected to be from the neighbouring state as they could not speak the language of the people.

The timely intervention of the deputy governor saved what could have led to the clash between the mobile policemen in the convoy of the senator and the people of the town, who threatened to burn down the vehicles and attack the occupants.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in the Ondo State Command, Mr Tunde Gbolarumi was called in before all the vehicles and their occupants were taken to Kese Police Station in Oka Town.

While speaking with newsmen on the situation, Abbas said six thugs armed with dangerous weapons were arrested and were being kept in the custody.

The AIG, who said more than half of the men with him in the operation, added that all he was concerned about was maintenance of law and order that in order to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.

Supporting the AIG, the deputy governor said the senator and other lawmakers were not arrested and that the issue had been resolved amicably.

However, Olanusi said he had told Oguniya and his colleagues that they had no business in the area and they had agreed to leave after leaving the police station.

“I had told them to leave here peacefully and they had agreed,” he said.

Meanwhile, the bye-election was relatively peaceful in the two local governments that made up the federal constituency. In some areas, the turnout was low while in some others the turn out were high.

The relative peaceful conduct as at the time of filing this report was confirmed by the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Tayo Dairo, who said the conduct was better compared with the experience of the past.

The two major political parties Labour Party and the PDP mobilised their men to the area. The PDP mobilised both their supporters and various political state and federal political appointees and elected officers to the area to monitor the exercise

Also, men of the mobile police unit of Nigeria Police Force mounted checkpoints at various places on Owo-Ikare –Iwaro Oka road where little vehicles plying the roads were screened along with occupants.

The Akoko South- West and Akoko South- East Federal Constituency became vacant following the death of Hon Joe Anota of the People Democratic Party, who died shortly after the election.