The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke of staging the kidnap of one of his aides to heat up the polity and blackmail the Federal Government.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, on Tuesday, the APC said the alleged fake kidnap of one Shakiru Babatunde, a Special Assistant to the governor, was orchestrated to demonise the opposition party.
The party alleged that shortly after Babatunde’s purported kidnap was announced, some officials of the state government took to social media to blame the APC for the incident.
“According to sources, Babatunde’s arrest had been announced by other officials of the state government through their individual social media handles, demonising and shifting the blame on the opposition APC,” the statement said.
The APC, however, claimed that luck ran out on Babatunde when he was apprehended in his hideout by officers of the Nigeria Police attached to Dugbe Divisional Police Station in Osogbo, where he allegedly confessed to faking his own abduction.
The opposition party further alleged that since the arrest, officials of the state government have made frantic efforts to bury the case to avoid public backlash.
“It was learnt that the intention of the kidnap conspirators was to demonise the Osun State APC and criminalise the Federal Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a failed administration under whose nose criminality has festered,” the APC alleged.
The party said the motive was to undermine President Tinubu’s chances of re-election in January 2027, adding that faking kidnap is a criminal offence punishable by 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment upon conviction.
The APC therefore called on the Osun State Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim D. Zungura, to ensure the case is thoroughly investigated and not swept under the carpet.
“We are appealing to the Commissioner of Police to pay particular attention to this case to serve as a deterrent to future criminal acts,” Olabisi said.
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