Osun gov’s aide, APC Chairman fight dirty over community policing slots

Some residents in Modakeke, Osun State have alleged the Special Adviser to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola on Science and Innovation, Hon. Kareem Akande of shortchanging the community of its slot for community policing.

While local hunters and members of vigilante groups in the town embarked on a street protest against the cabinet member, his personal assistant was attacked by members of All Progressives Congress at a meeting in the town over the issue.

According to the party’s caretaker chairman, Taiwo Olanlokun there was no in-fighting within the party, but some party members were not happy with the attitude of the Special Adviser to the Governor for replacing the community list with his own. “It is not true that six-party members were injured during the meeting.

We are doing our local executive meeting on Friday and when we got to any business on the agenda, members tried to ask our representative, Hon Kareem Ojuaye question about recruitment into the Community policing initiative.

“We sought 8 slots in the community. Eight candidates were nominated by Modakeke, but when they are enlisting as successful candidates, the consensus candidates nominated by the community were not on the list. “Besides that, only five persons, who were not originally on the community list, were picked. They don’t even know anything about security. “Upon investigation, They alleged our party of cheating. I did my findings and I find out that Biggy, (Kareem) was the one that changed the list.

The entire community, including hunters and other security groups, were angry with the party. So some of our members during the meeting asked the PA to Biggy, one Ebenezer the reason why the names of the consensus candidate of the community were not enlisted as part of the successful candidate, but he responded that anything Biggy wants is final.

“That is why the members are angry. They thought one of the leaders of the party, Biggy is taking action against the wish and interest of the community. “However, Kareem said the incident was just a cover up to deliberately smear his personality, with a view to attacking him and his supporters. “This is not the first time that such a thing will happen to me. In June 2020, we were organising a programme, these people sent hoodlums to the venue of the programme.

They disrupted the programme and destroyed the flag of the party. “A month ago I was called that I should submit 5 names of community policing officers which I did. The names I submitted were indigenes of Modakeke, I never knew that some names were already submitted. They were only hiding under that to cause trouble, to cause disquiet in the community. “I never short-change the names the community submitted nor reduce the numbers. I only submitted my list”, he added. Vanguard