Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Francis Fadahunsi, on Wednesday honoured Osun state command police invitation over alleged 'inciting' statement.

The senator was grilled by the Osun State Police Command for over two hours over an alleged inciting statement ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

It would be recalled that Governor Ademola Adeleke had called for the arrest of Fadahunsi following a viral video in which the senator was allegedly heard saying, “kill any Accord member,” during a protest at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland.

The protest followed the alleged killing of 12 All Progressives Congress (APC) members within 24 hours in Ilesa, an incident that heightened political tension in the state ahead of the election.

However, Fadahunsi denied making the statement, insisting that what he said was that APC supporters should “kill Accord Party in Osun with their votes,” as he alleged that more than 40 members of the APC had been killed in his district within the last year.

He was invited by the Police authority on Tuesday after the video went viral.

Fadahunsi who arrived at the Osun State Police Command at about 2:25pm on Wednesday was accompanied by one of his aides, and initially headed towards the office of the Commissioner of Police.

He was, however, stopped along the way and redirected to the Department of Criminal Investigation (CID), where he was led into an investigation room by the Commissioner of Police in charge of election duty, Samuel Erale Etifo, alongside other senior police officers.

Journalists were barred from the investigation room, a seperate building away from the office of the Commissioner of Police where the senator spent about one hour and 57 minutes.

He was subsequently taken to the office of the Commissioner of Police, where he spent another 20 minutes before being returned to the CID's Office.

He was later joined at the CID by a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke, and a legal practitioner, Edmund Biriomoni.

Fadahunsi was subsequently released by the police.

Addressing journalists after his release, the senator said he honoured the police invitation and clarified the statement attributed to him.

He said, “I came here to honour the police invitation. We have met and I told them what I said, not the one manipulated by the mischievous interpreters of the Yoruba language.
“I am a Yoruba man. If a Hausa or Igbo person is interpreting, it may not be correct. Yoruba means a lot of things. What I said was that between now and Saturday, we will kill them with our votes.”

The two-term senator also expressed concern over the security situation in Osun East, alleging that Governor Adeleke was turning the senatorial district into a battleground while his hometown remained peaceful.

He said, “It is worrisome, but we have left the whole thing to the owner of life. Come Saturday, you will see a marvellous turnout for APC.”

Fadahunsi expressed confidence that APC members would come out en masse to vote for the party’s governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), despite what he described as intimidation by political thugs.

He left the premises of the police command at about 4:58pm.