Kwara State Commissioner for Finance, Demola Banu, Tuesday denied claims of his arrest by some special police unit in Abuja over the recent burglary of some offices located at his ministry in Ilorin, the state capital.

Banu in a chat with The Guardian said the claims were not only false but misleading. He urged reporters to always verify their facts before going to the press, as "the issue of police arrest should not be toyed with."

Some national dailies (not The Guardian) had published stories of his alleged arrest and some principal officials of the ministry over the burglary, which occurred some two months ago by yet unknown persons and during which a huge sum of money was alleged to have been stolen from the safe.

But Banu, who said he was in Abuja attending a parley on Joint Committee on Foreign Debt, wondered on how such could be interpreted as an arrest.

For the commissioner, "the police are investigating the burglary matter. The last we heard of the matter was that the investigations into it were yet to be concluded. Don't forget that our people shortly after the ugly event reported the matter by themselves to the command headquarters here in Ilorin.

"It was not a hidden issue as it was widely reported by the press. Again, the police came here last week for a follow up on the matter. They are from Ilorin and not Abuja. I was in Ilorin on Sunday ditto my permanent secretary and other principal officials of the ministry. So, who are the ones they claimed were arrested?"