•as Esinrogunjo, security aide set to appear before the court tomorrow
•He was warned to stay clear of, campaigning for PDP – Source
Ahead of tomorrow’s sitting at the State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has allegedly instructed his aides to mount undue pressure on the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that his former aide, Comrade Esinrogunjo Musbau is convicted by the court.
This was in connection with the case of a direct complaint between one ‘Sergeant Samuel James’, the complainant, against the former Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara state governor on rural mobilisation, Esinrogunjo Musbau, as the defendant.
According to the court papers dated December 5, 2022, and exclusively obtained by THE ELITES WATCH, Esinrogunjo Musbau was charged on three counts charges by the ‘People of Kwara’, as the complainant and prosecutor concurrently.
One of the charges reads, “That you Musbau Esinrogunjo on or about 15th of March, 2022, at Ahmadu Bello Way, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court did commit an illegal act, to wit; you use criminal force and assaulted one Sergeant Samuel James in the course of discharge of his lawful duties as a public servant and police traffic officer and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 267 Penal Code Law, CAP. P4, Kwara state 2010.”
However, Esinrogunjo has been invited to appear before the Ilorin High Court on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, alongside his security aide identified as Lawal Tunde for trial on the three count charges.
This was contained in the court papers dated 9th December 2022, as obtained by this medium.
It was, however, alleged that Gov AbdulRazaq has instructed his aides, to effect undue pressure on the ‘exhibit keeper’ of the Kwara Police Command to ensure different items are brought before the court as exhibits against Esinrogunjo Musbau, in the case of a direct complaint made by one Sergeant Samuel James, a traffic warden of the Nigerian Police Force against the former aide of the governor.
The alleged instruction of pressure on the ‘exhibit keeper’ of the Kwara Police Command was allegedly carried out by the Special Adviser on Security, Alhaji Muhyideen, and the Special Adviser on Domestic matters, Alasi Obasanjo popularly known as SOJ.
Recall that in March 2022, the former Kwara governor’s aide, Esinrogunjo Musbau was reportedly arrested by officers of the Kwara Police Command, for an alleged assault melted on a traffic warden while on duty along Ahmadu Bello Way, Ilorin, the state capital.
However, a viral video clip trailed the development and was circulated on social media showing how the former governor’s side was slapped and assaulted by some men believed to be officers of the Nigerian Police Force, Kwara State Command.
According to the statement made by the Kwara Police command in response to the viral video, it reads, “The physical assault on Esinrogunjo was from aggrieved passersby that followed the parties to the police headquarters and the men were arrested, reprimanded and equally released.
“The Command has nothing to do with the video in circulation.”
During this period, Esinrogunjo was reportedly said to be caught by policemen with a cartridge and a substance, suspected to be hard drugs.
The command, however, refuted the reports saying “The command wishes to reiterate that, at no time was the suspect Esinrogunjo arrested for being in possession of weeds or bullet. It was a case of driving against the traffic and physically assaulting a policeman that brought him to the police headquarters. The command wishes to reiterate that, at no time was the suspect Esinrogunjo arrested for being in possession of weeds or bullet.”
A statement by the Kwara police command’s Spokesman, SP Okasanmi Ajayi, further said that Esinrogunjo was not arrested for involving in arms and drug dealings but arrested for a traffic offence.
The statement also explained that “Esinrogunjo slapped the traffic warden after being caught committing a traffic offence by driving against traffic, thereby causing a serious traffic hold-up at the area.”
The statement concluded that the matter has been satisfactorily dealt with and Esinrogunjo was subsequently released.
Some months after, Esinrogunjo resigned from his position as the Senior Special Assistant to Kwara governor on rural mobilisation.
Following his resignation, he officially dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It was learnt that since Esinrogunjo joined the PDP, the Kwara state government through its SA security and SA Domestic have launched a manhunt and agreed to revisit the cases he had with the govt and the police squarely.
According to a top source, Esinrogunjo was told to stay clear of campaigning for the PDP in Kwara State.
The source disclosed that a top chieftain of the APC informed Esinrogunjo to stop campaigning for the PDP at the grassroots, adding that if he insists, he would be left to face the consequences.
The source further revealed that the former Kwara governor’s aide was not moved by the threat, stressing that he would continue to lead campaign rallies for PDP in the state.
According to the source, it was after the rally organized by the Ilorin West PDP in December 2022, that the court papers got to him to appear before the court for an offence that was long settled and resolved amicably.
“The Kwara state government is mounting pressure on the exhibit keeper of the State police command to implicate Esinrogunjo tomorrow at the Court by bringing in different items as exhibits against him.
“The state government is doing this to silence Esinrogunjo and make sure he is convicted. They believe since he refused to accept the offer given to him to stop campaigning for PDP, detaining him in prison will stop him.
“Esinrogunjo was charged to court for three offences: assault, disturbance of public peace and obstruction of a Police officer from his duty. These offences were just minor to what they were planning to do to him in court. They want to make sure that the court jails him and keeps him in prison till after the election.
“I hope the court can see the matter with ordinary eyes and temper justice with mercy to free him so that he can fully participate in the electioneering process. I also hope his right will be duly guided by the court so that he won’t be disenfranchised,” the source noted.
As politicking across the nation has intensified, the development of the case between the ‘People of Kwara’, and Esinrogunjo Musbau, have made political analyst argue that the case was not unconnected to the political differences that led to the defection of the former governor’s aide from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to the opposition People Democratic Party, (PDP), in Kwara state.