Osun State Commissioner for Environment, Mayowa Adejoorin, has accused the police of subjecting him to degrading treatment after his arrest in connection with a shooting at an All Progressives Congress (APC) political procession in Ilesa, alleging that officers ordered him to strip off his underwear, singlet, trousers, shoes, socks and belt at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Adejoorin made the allegation on Sunday shortly after he was released on bail from police custody, where he had spent the night alongside an operative of the Osun State Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun.
He was accompanied from the CID by Pelumi Olajengbesi, spokesperson for the campaign of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Narrating his ordeal, the commissioner said he was travelling to Ilesa on Saturday with his driver and an Amotekun operative attached to his office when their vehicle was intercepted by armed police officers.
According to him, the incident began after his driver missed a turn and he instructed him to turn back. He said shortly afterwards, an SUV carrying police officers approached their vehicle.
Adejoorin identified one of the officers as Wemimo, popularly known as Solo.
He alleged that the officers blocked his vehicle, made several telephone calls and questioned why an Amotekun operative was accompanying a government commissioner.
The commissioner explained that the operative was officially attached to his office to provide security because of the deteriorating security situation in parts of the state.
He said police personnel had previously been assigned to protect his office but were later withdrawn, forcing the authorities to rely on Amotekun operatives for his security.
Adejoorin said the police searched his vehicle, including the boot, but found nothing incriminating. He alleged that despite this, the officers ordered him and the Amotekun operative into a Land Cruiser while his driver was instructed to follow behind.
He said the police subsequently drove them around Ilesa for about 40 minutes before taking them to a house where he encountered a man identified as Femi Oloka.
From there, he said, he was taken to the police CID.
It was at the CID, according to the commissioner, that the incident took a more disturbing turn.
Adejoorin alleged that he was made to sit on a counter and ordered to remove his clothes and surrender his phone.
“They said I should remove my underwear. Yes, underwear. Singlet, eh, that I was wearing, or pants, I should remove. That I should take off my shoes and socks. That I should remove my belt. That I should take out my phone,” he recounted.
He said he questioned the order but felt powerless to resist.
“I said, ‘Why?’ But I was helpless at that moment. I complied,” he said.
According to Adejoorin, the situation changed after an unidentified person intervened and challenged the treatment meted out to him.
“Someone came and said, ‘This is not right. This is an honourable commissioner. It’s not right. It’s not right. It’s not right,’” he recalled.
The commissioner said he and the Amotekun operative were subsequently allowed to put their clothes back on.
He said the police then took statements from him, the Amotekun operative and his driver, but later informed them that they would be detained.
Adejoorin said his driver was released during the night and instructed to inform his associates that the commissioner and the Amotekun operative remained in custody.
He said the Amotekun operative, who was carrying a firearm, presented documents authorising him to possess the weapon but remained detained.
The commissioner said he was initially placed in a cell but was later moved to a room, where he spent the night praying because he was uncertain about what would happen to him.
“I didn’t sleep. I was praying to God because I didn’t know what would happen next. I didn’t know what would come next,” he said.
Adejoorin was released on Sunday, but the Amotekun operative remained in police custody.
He said officers told him the operative could only regain his freedom if his superior appeared at the station to bail him.
The commissioner also said the police did not communicate any specific offence to him apart from questioning why he had travelled with an Amotekun operative.
According to him, the police suggested that the operative’s presence had a political undertone because he was a commissioner serving under the administration of Governor Adeleke.
Police Dispute Account
The police, however, linked the arrest to a shooting during an APC political procession in the Isokun area of Ilesa on Saturday.
The incident reportedly left three people injured, including 14-year-old Tobi Ilesanmi.
The Osun State Police Command said a government vehicle bearing registration number OSHAO4 was sighted near the political procession shortly before individuals identified as Amotekun operatives allegedly emerged and opened fire.
Police spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said some people at the rally pursued the alleged Amotekun operatives, one of whom reportedly escaped after allegedly pulling out a knife.
According to the police, operatives of the Intelligence Response Team responding to a distress call later intercepted a white Lexus 350 and found an Amotekun operative inside.
The occupants of the vehicle, including Adejoorin, were taken to the command headquarters in Osogbo for questioning.
The police said four expended cartridges were recovered from the scene, while a pump-action firearm was recovered from the Amotekun operative.
Confirming the commissioner’s release on Sunday, Ojelabi said Adejoorin was granted bail at about 1 p.m., while the Amotekun operative and the firearm remained in police custody.
“The commissioner has been released. He was released around 1.00 p.m. on bail. The Amotekun operative arrested alongside the commissioner and the gun found with him are still with us. However, investigation is still ongoing on the matter,” he said.
The police have not accused Adejoorin of personally firing the shots. Rather, the command said his detention was necessary to determine his level of involvement in the incident.
With the commissioner now out on bail and the Amotekun operative still in custody, the controversy has shifted beyond the alleged shooting to questions over police conduct, the treatment of a serving government official and the circumstances surrounding the deployment of armed Amotekun personnel in politically charged environments.
The investigation remains ongoing.