News from This Day Indicates that hundreds of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State have staged a protest against the remand of one of the party’s chieftains, Alhaji Tajudeen Sulu-Oloje, by a magistrate court in Ilorin, Kwara State. Sulu-Oloje, a former chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area and a key leader within the PDP, was remanded following a court ruling on a case brought against him by the state police command.

Speaking to journalists at the court premises, the state party chairman, Rt. Hon. Babatunde Muhammed, condemned what he described as the "unlawful arrest, harassment, and remand" of the PDP chieftain. The magistrate court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and adjourned proceedings until October 21, 2024, while Sulu-Oloje was ordered to remain in a correctional facility.

Muhammed further stated that the arrest of Sulu-Oloje, based on a petition submitted to the state police, was an attempt to silence opposition members in the wake of the recent local government elections.

The state PDP chairman said that the allegations used by the police to re-arrest Sulu-Oloje are the same charges taken to court on the eve of the local government elections, for which the court granted him bail.

Mohammed added: “Additionally, all complainants in the case have withdrawn their petitions and expressed the desire to settle the matter amicably to protect their community’s interest.

“This was reaffirmed by all of the complainants, who also came in solidarity to the police headquarters in Ilorin and stayed up till late night yesterday even though they are all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“It is clear that Sulu-Oloje’s only crime before the Commissioner of Police is his membership of the PDP. While our party remains committed to peaceful conduct and lawfulness, we will not tolerate the use of state apparatus to intimidate our members.

“Furthermore, we call on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate the activities of the Kwara State Police Command under its current leadership to ensure that the police are not used as a political weapon by desperate politicians in the state,” he said.

Also, in his remark, the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olusegun Olusola Adewara, said that the ongoing persecution of opposition members in the state would hinder healthy democracy.

He said that: “It is worrisome that some of our members have been arrested since after the last government council poll.

“We also learnt from grapevine that a list of members of the PDP has been sorted out for arrest, and this will not bring peace to the state.

“We are calling on the police headquarters in Abuja to investigate the matter so as to avoid any kind of lawlessness in the state.”