The Mayor of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Collins Aigbogun, has been arrested by men of the police force attached
to the Edo State Command.
This was confirmed by the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
While speaking to journalists at the Force headquarters in Benin, CP Edwin-Iwo stated that the local government boss was brought to the station for Investigation in Benin by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area upon being invited by the police force.
The Commissioner explained that Collin Aigbogun, after arriving at the CID office, was discovered to have been wanted by the police earlier on other alleged criminal charges, which also contributed to the need for them to investigate him further.
He said, : “Yes, he was invited. He reported himself to the police, and we later discovered that he had other criminal charges against him.
“What happened was that he brutalised someone in the course of altercations 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 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 could investigate his matter".
He also revealed that this contributed to him being moved to the Abuja Police Command for thorough and further investigations.
“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 anything against him, he will be brought back to Benin”, he said.
Before now, the All Progressives Congress in Edo state had earlier petitioned the Inspector General of Police over political violence that took place at Illeh community, Esan West Local Government Area, as the APC labelled the Council boss to be responsible for the alleged violence.
The Commissioner, while speaking on the Command’s readiness for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, warned non-state actors to stay away from the elections, saying they have no business with the Edo State elections.
He also made known to the public that the police has already commenced illegal arms removal across the 18 local government council areas in the state in order to have a hitch-free and fair elections.
“We are mopping up arms across the local government council areas in the state ahead of the election. We request the public to inform us where we can mop up illegal arms.
“We are going to create an environment where we will have a free and fair election and enable the environment so that anybody can walk freely without any molestations or intimidations.
He also added that, "I want to re-emphasise, as 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 stated.
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