The police in Edo State have confirmed the arrest of the Chairperson of Esan West Local Government Area of the state, Collins Aigbogun, over alleged political violence in the area.
The Commissioner of Police in Edo, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, confirmed the arrest to reporters on Tuesday in Benin.
He said Mr Aigbogun had, however, been moved to Abuja by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) over the matter.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo had sent a petition to the inspector general of police, accusing Mr Aigbogun of being involved in political violence in the Illeh community.
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Mr Edwin-Iwo said Mr Aigbogun was brought to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the command on Monday by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the area upon police invitation.
“Yes, he was invited, and he reported himself to the police, and we later discovered that he has other criminal charges against him.
“What happened was that he brutalised somebody in the course of an altercation between himself and other party members.
“He was invited, and the DPO in the area brought him to the State CID, where it was discovered that earlier, before now, he had other charges against him.
“Our men from FID came and said that the man had earlier been wanted and there was now a need for them to take him along so that they can investigate his matter.
“That was how he was moved to Abuja.
“The whole thing is being investigated, and I hope that at the end of the day, if there is nothing against him, he will be brought back to Benin,” he said.
On the command’s readiness for the 21 September governorship election in the state, the police commissioner warned non-state actors to stay away from the election.
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“We are going to create an environment where we will have a free and fair election and make the environment enabling so that anybody can walk freely without any molestations or intimidations.
“I want to reemphasise, as the INEC has done earlier, that non-state actors are not supposed to carry arms and are not part of the election at all.
“So, all that we are doing now before the election is to make sure that we clear all illegal arms as much as we can.
“The operation is ongoing and I have operatives virtually in all the local government areas now,” he said.
(NAN)
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