Police probe proceeding without state govt pressure, says gov’s spokesperson

A media aide to Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Shakirulahi Babatunde, has allegedly staged his own kidnapping in an attempt to extort the state government.

The allegation has triggered a police investigation, with the state government insisting that the probe is being conducted without interference from government officials.

The governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, confirmed the development in a statement yesterday, dismissing reports that senior officials of the administration were attempting to influence the police to abandon the investigation.

Rasheed said the matter was reported to the police immediately after Babatunde sent a message claiming that he had been kidnapped.

“Our attention has been drawn to a reported case of self-kidnapping by one of the governor’s media aides, Shakirulahi Babatunde. We immediately want the public to know that the police are investigating the matter without any pressure from the state government,” he said.

According to him, the incident report was lodged with the police on the instruction of the Chief of Staff to the governor, Kazeem Akinleye, after the aide sent a text message alleging that he had been abducted.

Rasheed added that the matter was subsequently transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Osun State Police Command, which commenced investigation.

He described as false reports that Akinleye and other senior government officials were working behind the scenes to prevent the police from investigating the case.

Rasheed also denied allegations that government officials attempted to bribe the police to suppress the investigation.

“Nobody in the government is attempting to bribe the police, and the police have not received any kobo from state officials as libellously asserted in a publication,” he said.

He said the state government was awaiting the outcome of the police investigation before taking any further action.

Rasheed urged the public to disregard what he described as misinformation aimed at damaging the reputations of government officials and the police.

He maintained that the Adeleke administration remained committed to transparency and respect for the law, stressing that no government official would prevent law enforcement agencies from carrying out their statutory responsibilities.

The Osun State Police Command had not issued a public statement on the alleged self-kidnapping as of the time of filing this report.