By Adesakin Adefemi
The Honourable Member representing Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, and Ejigbo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Salam, has strongly denounced the unlawful detention, public humiliation and physical harassment of a local government employee in Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, describing the Nigeria Police Force’s role in the incident as “shameful, despicable, and a flagrant breach of the Constitution.”
In a detailed press release issued after reviewing a widely-circulated video and photographic evidence, Hon. Salam said certain Osun-based politicians acting in concert with senior police officers have systematically weaponised law enforcement to subvert due process and maintain illegal control of local government administration in the state.
The victim, Mr. Taiwo Adebayo, is an administrative officer of Egbedore Local Government who was lawfully carrying out his duties under a directive from the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to resume work after an 11-month industrial action.
At the time of his arrest, he was processing retirement files for outgoing staff a routine, legally-mandated function yet was seized, interrogated, and degraded in full view of the Divisional Police Officer, Mrs. Tawakalitu Ogunniyi, and several subordinate officers.
The individual identified as leading the assault is Mr. Issa Akinwale, a former local government chairman who was removed by two concurrent judgments of the Federal High Court (Osogbo) and the Court of Appeal (Akure), yet continues to occupy the council secretariat with overt police protection.
“He and his associates have illegally commandeered the local government offices, shielded by officers of the Nigeria Police Force,” Hon. Salam noted.
The lawmaker described the treatment meted out to Mr. Adebayo including verbal abuse, forced confinement and public shaming as “dehumanising, condemnable and utterly unconstitutional,” and demanded his immediate, unconditional release, as well as a formal written apology from the police hierarchy.
Hon. Salam further called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, to forthwith withdraw all police personnel currently deployed to Osun’s local government secretariats a move he said is essential to restoring constitutional order and halting the ongoing usurpation of elected office by non-officeholders “Security agencies must remain politically neutral and enforce not frustrate court orders,” he warned.
It bears repeating that two separate judgments of the Federal High Court and one appellate court decision have nullified the October 2022 local government elections for non-compliance with the Electoral Act and 1999 Constitution, and subsequently validated the February 22, 2025 elections yet the police have refused to enforce these rulings, enabling the defeated candidates to remain in power illegally.
Hon. Salam’s intervention underscores mounting national alarm over police politicisation and extra-legal interventions at sub-national levels. Civil society organisations have echoed his demand for urgent police reform and strict compliance with constitutional mandates.
