By Ben Ezeamalu
Mr Obasa and other APC leaders in Agege during the press conference.
The State Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force have ‘detained’ a former chairman of Agege Local Government Area, Jubreel Abdulkareem, over the deadly fracas at last Saturday’s All Progressives Congress election in Lagos, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The violence, which erupted at the end of the party’s Agege local government congress, led to the shooting of a party member identified as Nurudeen Olanose.
Mr Olanose was allegedly shot at the back of the head and died on the spot.
Following the fatal shooting, the APC leaders in the local government traded blames among themselves over who caused the fracas.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that 12 people were arrested in the aftermath of the violence including Ahmed Haruna; Bosun Adigun, a former driver at the Agege local government; Salami Azeez; Sabitu Kamorudeen; and Toheeb Ahmed.
The rest are Badmus Fatai; Kabiru Kareem; Olayinka Olasende; Adetutu Omotosho; Idiatu Olokode; Ogunbona Semiu; and Bimbo Kuku, a former ward leader in the local government.
The police stormed the home of Mr Abdulkareem, who was council boss between 2008 and 2014, at Kosoko Street, Agege, on Monday and invited him to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti.
He was reportedly detained on Monday night.
“Their defence is that the 12 people arrested are delegates,” a party source who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.
But Mr Egunjobi (the current Agege council chairman) is insisting they are not delegates. He’s taking the list of delegates to Panti this morning.”
A source in Mr Abdulkareem’s camp said the former council boss and Mr Egunjobi were invited by the police on Monday but could not confirm if the former was detained by the police.
Phone calls and text messages to Chike Oti, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, were not responded to.
At a press conference on Sunday, party leaders in Agege local government heaped the blame of last Saturday’s violence at the congress on Mr Abdulkareem and “thugs.”
The former council boss, however, told PREMIUM TIMES he was being victimised for refusing to step down for Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, ahead of the 2019 election.
Messrs Abdulkareem and Obasa are from Agege Constituency 1 in Lagos State.