Soldiers Arrest PDP Chieftain, Seven Suspected Thugs in Sagamu

Source: THEWILL. - thewillnigeria.com

LAGOS, April 26, (THEWILL) - Men of the Nigerian Army today arrested a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solomon Soyelu, and seven suspected thugs for allegedly disrupting voting in Ode-Lemo, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State.

THEWILL gathered that the suspects said they were working for the success of a PDP candidate contesting in the rescheduled House of Representatives election suspected to be Ladi Adebutu. Sources told THEWILL that the thugs, who claimed to have come from Ikorodu in Lagos State, were nabbed while terrorizing eligible voters at AUD Ward 9, Ode-Lemo.

The names of the suspected thugs were given as Toheeb Balogun, Wasiu Ademola, Femi Akeju, Tunde Adeleke, Dare Bakare, Gbenga Jimoh and one Ladejobi.

The accreditation of voters had barely started when armed thugs stormed the polling booth and started upturning everything in sight, including electoral materials which made people to scamper to safety.

Residents were said to have alerted soldiers who were nearby monitoring elections, but on sighting the military men, the hoodlums attempted to escape from the scene before they were detained.

At was at this point that Soyelu appeared and tried to secure their release by offering cash as bribe to the soldiers who in turn rejected the offer and subsequently detained Soyelu and handed all of them to officers of the police, Sagamu division.

“The thugs disrupted electoral process to the extent that we suspect INEC would cancel elections there. During interrogation, Chief Soyelu confessed that they were working for Ladi Adebutu contesting for the Remo Federal Constituency seat. But the thugs and Soyelu have been detained at Sagamu Police Station,” one source told THEWILL.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, confirmed the arrest of the suspects during a telephone interview with THEWILL, saying that the police command would prosecute the suspects accordingly.

“Yes, we have arrested some people who attempted to disrupt electoral process in that area. They have brought them to our command and investigation is ongoing. But I can confirm to you that the arrest were made,” he stated.