Adeleke Tells Police to Arrest His Own Family If They Break the Law

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke stood in front of the Inspector-General of Police on Friday and said something that most politicians would never say out loud: if any of my people committed a crime, arrest them. If it is my son, arrest him too.

The context matters. Adeleke was responding to allegations that Government House in Osogbo was being used as a refuge for criminal suspects, a claim that originated, at least in part, from the Osun State Commissioner of Police himself.

"If you see any of my people that committed a crime, arrest them. If it is my son who committed a crime, arrest him, let him learn his lesson, and that is what I am saying in front of the IGP," the governor said.

That last phrase is doing real work. Saying it in front of the Inspector-General is not accidental. It is a public, witnessed commitment.

IGP Olatunji Disu, who was visiting Government House for what was described as a courtesy visit, did not exactly return the compliment with a clean bill of health.

He confirmed that the Commissioner of Police for Osun State, CP Ibrahim Gotan, had briefed him directly that some of the suspects the police were looking for had allegedly been spotted in Government House.

"He briefed me that some suspects he is looking for are hibernating in the Government House. I looked at that. If that is true, why should suspects be in the Government House?" Disu said.

He was careful about framing, noting that he had also heard that various political groups, not just the government side, were sheltering criminal suspects.

"I have heard that this party and that party are hibernating suspects, criminals," the IGP added.

He also acknowledged receiving complaints about the Commissioner of Police's performance from multiple sources, which adds another layer. This visit was clearly about more than courtesy.

To be honest, the Governor Adeleke Government House suspects allegation story has a structural problem that no press conference fully fixes.

Adeleke says no suspects are being sheltered at Government House. The state's top police officer told his superior that they are. One of these things is not true. And the visit, warm as it appeared in tone, did not produce any announced investigation, any independent verification, or any named outcome that would tell you which version to believe.

The IGP saying he has been briefed and he is handling it is not the same as the matter being resolved. It is the matter being managed, which is a different thing.

Adeleke did not just play defence on Friday. He went on offence on something specific, and it is worth paying attention to.

He said that a police officer who had done their job correctly, arresting a suspect linked to the killing of a 14-year-old child in Ilobu, was subsequently transferred. That officer acted under the IGP's directive, arrested the suspect, and was moved out of position for it.

"Because the police officer did a good job under the directive of the Inspector General of Police and arrested the suspect that killed the boy, you transferred the officer," Adeleke said.

If accurate, that is a serious allegation about internal police politics. Transfers are one of the quieter ways that pressure gets applied inside the force, and a transfer following a high-profile arrest that someone powerful found inconvenient is the kind of thing that discourages other officers from doing their jobs.

The IGP did not address that specific allegation publicly during the visit, at least not in what was reported.

Adeleke closed with something that sounds conciliatory but has a condition buried inside it.

"If you change tomorrow, I will continue to cooperate with the police. Police is our friend. We are not fighting the police, but you have to do right," he said.

That "if you change tomorrow" is not nothing. It is a governor telling the police, in public, that his cooperation is conditional on their conduct. That is a reasonable position. It is also a signal that the relationship is more strained than a courtesy visit photograph suggests.