The Osun Civil Societies Coalition on Saturday condemned the alleged harassment of leaders of the organization, by overzealous policemen during the celebration of June 12.
A statement by the Chairman of Osun Civil Societies Coalition, Comrade Waheed Lawal made available to newsmen alleged that Comrade Awal Lawal was slapped by one of the policemen, Comrade Waheed Saka was harassed and threatened by the policemen who were acting on the instruction of the Commissioner of Police, Mr Wale Olokode.
He said, “Comrade Waheed Saka’s clothes was torn when he was harassed by about four policemen. We considered the conducts of the policemen as a threat to every member of the Civil Society organisations in Osun State and a slapped on the democracy we are celebrating today.
“The action of the policemen was uncalled for. It refreshes our memories of the dark days of the military era which was characterised by the gross abuse of human rights and extra-judicial killing.
“We called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Usman Alkali Baba, to call the Commissioner of Police in Osun to order. Throughout our procession, there was no misconduct or harassment of any security agent from our members that could provoke the uncivilised conduct towards our comrades.
“We would not tolerate any act of intimidation and abuse of human rights from the police. The IGP should caution his men against any act that can trigger another massive protest against the police in Osun.
“We are peace-loving people and we will continue to support the police in the fight against insecurity. But the police should be civilized in their conducts,” he ended.
Credit: The Nation