Petitioners, who appeared before the Osun State Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have accused soldiers and a former Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, Mr. Sulaimon Fakai, of perpetrating violence during the April 2007 general elections in the state.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola had inaugurated the commission a few weeks ago to address alleged cases of socio-political injustices in the last eight years in the state.
Appearing before the former Justice of Supreme Court, Justice Samson Uwaifor-led commission on Friday, a petitioner, Mr. Rasheed Olanrewaju, alleged that soldiers visited his residence at Omi-Oko in Ilesa, shot into the air and bundled him into a waiting vehicle.
He narrated how he was taken to Ita Akogun Police Station in Ilesa and later transferred to police headquarters, where he was allegedly stripped naked and sprayed with teargas.
“The police ordered me to roll on the floor and also told me to look into the sun. I was remanded in prison custody for 33 days for no offence,” he added.
Soldiers were reportedly drafted from Two Mechanised Division, Ibadan, Oyo State and the Army Engineering Construction Regiment in Ede, Osun State, to quell the uprising which greeted the declaration of ousted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the winner of the controversial April 14, 2007 poll.
Another petitioner, Mr. Azeez Ismaila, accused a popular member of Osun State Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Yemi Oladimeji, of leading thugs to invade his house at Isale Agbara, Osogbo, on April 16, 2007.
According to Ismaila, Fakai supported the Osun PDP in victimising Action Congress of Nigeria members during and after the controversial election.
Ismaila said his wife, Serifat, and his one and a half-year-old son were victimised after he went into exile.
The petitioner said he eventually lost the baby to trauma suffered during the alleged persecution.
He claimed that the PDP thugs vandalised his shop at Ita-Olokan Road, Osogbo, where goods worth several thousands of naira were destroyed.
When asked by the lawyer to the respondents, Mr. Soji Oyetayo, whether he reported the case to the police, Ismaila said he could not report the matter to the police as he claimed that Fakai was working hand-in-hand with the Osun PDP to victimise and persecute members of the opposition party.
The matter has been adjourned till March 29.
Original post:
Osun TRC: Victims accuse soldiers, ex-CP of brutality