NEWS
PDP frowns against the arrest of Musbau Esinrogunjo
The Senior Special Assistant to the State Governor on Rural Mobilisation, Musbau Esinrogunjo, was arrested for alleged assault of a traffic warden while on duty on Ahmadu Bello Way on March 16, 2022 on his way to the Government House Ilorin. However, the Kwara State Police Command and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party have expressed dissimilar opinion on it.
A substance suspected to be Indian hemp and an ammunition were allegedly found in Esinrogunjo vehicle during a search.
But while the police, in a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, said that Esinrogunjo was not arrested for alleged possession of hard drug and ammunition but for assault and traffic offence, the state chapter of the PDP called for the prosecution of the governor’s aide.
A video clip on how the governor’s aide was allegedly caught by policemen with a cartridge and substance suspected to be hard drug had gone viral on social media on Sunday.
Okasanmi said in a statement on Sunday that the viral video in question was posted by a “mischievous individual” to achieve a result still unknown to the command.
“What actually transpired in the day was that the man in the video later identified to be one Musibau Esinrogunjo was caught committing a traffic offence by driving against traffic, thereby causing a serious traffic hold-up at NYSC Secretariat junction, Ahmadu Bello Way, Ilorin.
“The traffic warden on duty who arrested him for the offence was dealt a slap by Esinrogunjo and his aide, which drew the anger of passers-by around the vicinity. They attempted to physically assault him but for the prompt arrival of police officers that rescued and took the parties to the police headquarters, the closest police formation to the scene.
“A search conducted on the vehicle of Esinrogunjo resulted in the recovery of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp and an item that looked like a cartridge wrapped with charm.
“The incident was looked into by a senior police officer in the command. Esinrogunjo was later identified to be Special Assistant to the state governor. The matter was treated in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He was warned to desist from such behaviour in future. The traffic warden assaulted by Esinrogunjo was pacified and asked to go back to his duty post while Esinrogunjo was also released.”
However, Kwara PDP, in a statement by its Chairman, Babatunde Muhammed, called for the prosecution of the governor’s aide and demanded that the matter must not be swept under the carpet.
“We are thereby calling on the police authorities to order proper prosecution of the governor’s aide. He must also be prosecuted for other infractions he has allegedly committed like breaking traffic rules and physical assault on a traffic warden,” the statement read.
Esinrogunjo, in his reaction, alleged that the matter was that of persecution as he was detained for more than 12 hours and beaten mercilessly.
Esinrogunjo said, “I was mercilessly beaten by the police, they were about 50 police officers. I was locked up in cell from around 6pm and was there till about 8am or 9am the second day when people from the Government House came to bail me even after the traffic warden came and told them that he is not interested in making the case. I kept mute for two weeks until the video surfaced online.”
